Sacrifice of a Lifetime
by ChaoCat13
Summary: Sasuke has just returned home after killing Orochimaru, and Sakura, dilligent as ever, is worried about him. One night, when he takes off to find his brother, she goes with him. What adventures await them? REVIEWS PLEASE!
1. Remembrance

**Chapter One: Remembrance **

Sakura sat idly on her bed, feeling the night breeze whisk through her hair. Even though her face showed no emotion, a million thoughts raced through her mind, most of them about Sasuke. He had finally returned from Orochimaru's lair after killing him, but somehow he seemed less human than he was before. She was worried for him—his safety as well as his state of mind. Ever since Orochimaru bit him on the neck, he'd never been the same. She had always sensed his restlessness even before the incident, but lately, he'd become sullen and withdrawn. Sometimes she caught him training in the woods for hours and hours, never stopping for a break. There was something on his mind, and she was dying to know what. She sighed glumly. Of course, she had a pretty good idea what it was. He'd told her once, during one of their rare conversations, that his brother, Itachi, had killed the entire Uchiha clan before his eyes, but left Sasuke alive. He had confided in her, and it made her feel special. But now, whenever she mentioned Itachi, he glared at her and stalked off, refusing to speak to her for days on end. Knowing him, he was probably training to become strong enough to defeat his brother. Sakura desperately wanted to go along and prove her worth, but she, along with everyone else, knew that she would never become strong enough. Driven by stubbornness and a desire to have a chance at having Sasuke by her side, she too trained every day. After a little more than a year, the Hokage herself had determined her competent as a Healer of the Leaf Village and frequently sent her out on A rank missions.

Sakura closed her eyes and cradled her head in her arms. The past week hadn't gone very well for her. Her rival, Ino, had sought out many chances to pamper and flirt with Sasuke, much to Sakura's disgust. It wasn't that Ino had a chance—it was just that Sakura had been too busy to pay much attention to Ino's clever plans and thwart them. Worse still, Sasuke had been very prone to outbursts of sudden rage and had often come back from the forest where he trained covered with bruises, scratches, and occasionally, deep cuts. Sakura had insisted that she heal them, and much to her delight, Sasuke had agreed. Now that she thought back on it, it seemed that Sasuke had been building up his strength the past month.

A movement in the dark, empty street caught her eye and interrupted her thoughts. Mildly annoyed, she focused her eyes on a moving shadow. She snuck out of her window, not making a single sound as her feet touched the dirt road. She got within two feet of the intruder when a light struck the mystery person's face and shocked her so much that she let out a soft cry. The figure whirled around. It was Sasuke! Yet…somehow it wasn't him. He was wearing all black and he had a large weapon pouch slung over his shoulder. His face looked older and fearless, but his eyes betrayed him. They showed fear and surprise.

"Sasuke! What are you doing?" Sakura cried, shocked, "Did you steal those weapons?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Go back, Sakura. This is none of your business."

"Don't say that! It is my business. You're not supposed to be out this late." She noticed the determined look on his face. "No! No…you can't be! Now? But…you said…you said you'd tell me when you were about to leave…"

He turned away. "Sakura…Sakura, I have to go. This is my revenge, not yours. There's no point in having you get hurt because of me. I don't want to be responsible for your death."

Sakura laughed, but there was no humor in her voice, only sadness. "Sasuke…you're so clueless. You've seen me train. You've seen how hard I worked. I've suffered, and I'm a different person now. And you know what? I…" she blushed and stared at his feet, "…I did it all for you. You don't know how I feel, Sasuke. I'd do anything for you. Bring me with you. I know I can help." Sakura could see Sasuke weakening, so she put one last jab into it. "And besides…I'm a healer. If you ever get hurt, I can heal you. I'm not so useless anymore. Unless…unless you think I am?"

He turned away. "Go away, Sakura. Don't try to follow me. There's no point. It's not like you can actually do much."

Sakura's temper flared. "I can't do much? I can't do much! You've got to be kidding." She pointed a finger accusingly at Sasuke. "I've trained since forever! If you won't take me, I'll…I'll…" At a sudden loss for words, Sakura racked her brain desperately for ideas. A sudden thought shook her with its maliciousness. But…could she do it? She steeled her nerves and retrieved a small metal whistle from her pack.

"I'll tell the Hokage. I'm the village healer, remember? I have this whistle…once I blow into it, the entire village will awaken and be ready for battle. I don't want to do this, Sasuke, but you leave me no choice."

Sasuke turned around slowly, eyes narrowed and vicious…but somehow amused. He spoke softly, almost gently. "You've changed Sakura…this is…a threat. The old Sakura would never have dared." He turned back around. "This is almost evil. This is cruel. This is blackmail." Sakura's face burned. Sasuke could get under her skin and cut her heart without any effort at all. She clenched her hand into a fist, feeling the sharp edges of the whistle cut into her hand. "But…"

Sakura looked up hopefully. Sasuke took one step forward. "This type of malevolence could benefit me. Get your pack. We leave in less than a minute."

Sakura smirked and leapt into her room, grabbing her backpack. She was out in less than a second. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Most girls take longer." Sakura smiled at him. "I'm not most girls." Sasuke nodded his head slightly and turned his back to her. "Is there a way to get out of here without triggering the traps?"

Sakura frowned slightly. "Hmm…oh, yes there is. But we'll have to be extra quiet. It passes by Naruto's house."

Sasuke snickered humorlessly. "That _baka_ sleeps like a rock. We have nothing to worry about."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "He shares a room with Kiba." Sasuke showed no emotion. "Kiba and his dog." Sasuke growled something about stupid people and their pets, but shifted his pack slightly so that it would make less noise. He was about to start off, but Sakura held him back with a warning finger.

"Wait." She took out a small, colorless bottle from her own pack. "Spray it on yourself. Everywhere."

Sasuke took the bottle from her gingerly and sniffed it, then stared at her. "No odor." He stated simply, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, it's supposed to get rid of all odors for up to an hour. There's no way Kiba's dog is finding us now."

Sasuke turned away from her. "You've worked hard, Sakura. Developing this just for our little trip. I appreciate that..."

Sakura didn't have the heart to tell him that she had originally designed it for her bathroom and that she'd brought it out purely on accident, so she just smiled sheepishly and nodded her head.

Sasuke finished spraying and handed the bottle to Sakura. When she was done, he nodded at her and jumped off. Sakura took one last look behind her and followed him. They were going to have such wonderfully frightening adventures…she knew it.


	2. Departure

**Chapter Two: Departure**

The rest of that night, Sasuke and Sakura sped through the forest, away from the Leaf Village, leaving homes, friends, and families behind. Sasuke stayed impassive and silent, but Sakura was having a hard time keeping quiet. So many questions flitted through her head that she was tempted to let them all out, and she would have, if it weren't for the fact that they weren't supposed to be here. If she blew off their cover and revealed where they were, not only the Konoha Jounin would be after them, but the Sound Village Jounin would be after their heads as well. After their last encounter with the Sound Village ninjas, they were pretty sure they wouldn't want to battle with them again. Lee claimed that his ears were _still_ ringing from their battle in the Forest of Death. As one particularly enticing question pushed its way to the top of her subconscious, Sakura was forced to bite her lip in order to keep it in. Did Sasuke like her? He'd said he didn't want her to die, but then again, he'd witnessed so much death already that it was quite reasonable he didn't want to experience it again. But…but then again, he had become much nicer to her over the past year they'd had together. Sakura had persuaded herself that maybe Sasuke might even consider her Ino's equal, if not better.

Sasuke's voice penetrated her thoughts. "We're here." He straightened up from his crouch and allowed a grim smile to reach his lips. "The Sound Village."

Sakura blinked in surprise. "The Sound Village? We've traveled this far?"

Sasuke smirked. "Yeah. You've gotten faster. Good job, Sakura."

Sakura knew it was sarcasm, but she smiled anyway. "You too, Sasuke."

Something like a laugh and a disbelieving scoff escaped from Sasuke's mouth. He quickly turned around before Sakura could read his emotions. "Let's go. We're wasting time." He immersed himself in the shadows and stalked towards the village.

Sakura immediately followed his lead, but she allowed triumph to surface above her misery and worry. Inside her heart, she'd won a small victory.


	3. Interception

**Chapter 3: Interception**

No one in the Sound Village paid much attention to the two strangers on the side of the road. These days, travelers came all the time from the Sand Village, reportedly hiding from Orochimaru. Of course, Orochimaru's sudden uprising surprised no one. There had been rumors and stories of his power, mostly by his power obsessed followers that drowned themselves in his 'glory'. They ended up as bums on the side of the street and most lost faith in themselves and committed suicide. However, tales of Orochimaru's bloodlust had etched fear into everyone's soul—even the Hokage's. Ever since the past year and a half, every Hokage had been increasing the amount of training and people in every group of Chounin, Jounin, and Anbu. Even Naruto had been promoted! He was now training under the Hokage and was rumored to be one of the most powerful ninja ever, providing he improved his behavior.

The two newcomers slinked along the shadows towards the center of the town, stalked by moving vendors trying to make an easy sale. However, after trying every trick in the book to no prevail, the torrent of hopeless hopefuls eventually trickled down to one amateur salesman. Seeing that he was losing his audience, he tried desperately to hold them in.

"Need information on the Uchiha hit man?" when the dark haired teen turned toward him, he realized suddenly that he had made a bad move.

Sakura froze beside Sasuke. That idiot salesman had actually piqued Sasuke's interest. If that boy was lying, he would pay for it with his life. "What do you know?" asked Sasuke. "What do you know about Itachi?" The boy shivered involuntarily. "I-I used to work for one of his accomplices. But…now I have to hide." Sakura stared at him. The boy was either a brilliant liar or the real deal. She made a quick decision. People were starting to stare at Sasuke, whether it be that his chakra was now swirling around him, or that the boy had fallen to his knees, begging for a lost cause. "D-don't kill me…please, please…Itachi…don't…" Sakura stared at the boy on the floor. He was genuinely scared and had probably mistaken Sasuke for Itachi in his horror. At a closer, look, he couldn't have been more that fourteen, yet he was shorter than the other boys in the town. He had delicate fingers and large round eyes. He was wearing a shroud that covered his entire body and his hair. A single black lock of hair peeked out from the shroud.On a sudden hunch, she decided to save him.

"Kira-kun, that was wonderful! We're sure to make some money at the play now!" she smiled at the young child, pretending to be part of a traveling circus. "Look, Ichi-kun, they're all staring at us! Oh, we're sure to be rich soon!"

The crowd of gathering people immediately turned around and chattered among themselves. Sakura dragged the boy by the front of his shroud into a deserted alleyway, Sasuke trailing behind her. She pushed him down onto the floor.

"Okay, who are you? You're not just a regular salesman. There's no way. What do you know?"

The boy gasped for breath. "W-who are you? You're not normal. You-you're not from here…who-who…no!" His face paled when he made the connection. He pointed a shaking finger at Sasuke. "You! You're Itachi's brother! You…the last….the last Uchiha…you're alive! Oh, thank goodness." He recovered his composure and pulled Sakura back into the street. "Come! You must come to my home. I will explain everything to you there.


	4. Capture

**Chapter 4: Capture:**

Sakura walked along the dirt road, staring in confusion and the chattering boy next to her. He was so glad and cheery that it was almost frightening. He turned around and smiled at her.

"You're pretty, Ni-chan. You must be Sakura. You're lucky to have Sasuke-kun by your side!" he pulled his shroud down over his head, revealing long black hair. Seeing her shocked look, the child laughed and said, "Yes, Ni-chan, I'm a girl. I find that it's safer to walk the streets when you pretend to be a boy. There's no one to attack you or try and…and steal from you. You can call me—"

"You there! Stop!" someone yelled out gruffly, "Itachi-sama wishes to see you!"

Sasuke kept walking. His chakra lashed out in the air, now completely visible. Sakura and the girl beside her stopped in their tracks and slowly turned around. An entire squad of Sand Chounin were facing them.

"Hey! I said you! Stop walking and turn around with your hands up!" the leader of the squad yelled, one hand reaching towards his weapon pouch. He frowned as Sasuke continued walking forward. "Stop! Itachi-sama wants to see you! You'd best follow his orders, or your life is forfeit! You must do what Itachi-sama says!"

Sasuke froze. "You idiot…you think I care what that Itachi bstard thinks?" He turned around, his sharingan fixed menacingly on the squad leader. Then he smiled and began walking towards the man, his hands held out loosely at his sides, palms up. "Alright. Take me to him. Take me…if you can. Oh and now that I think of it, you'd be doing me a favor. Oh yes, a great favor. I've been looking for him for the past 16 years! Take me there…take me! It will save me so much trouble…"

_Oh no! Sasuke's gone crazy! _Yet somehow, she had to stifle back a laugh. _If it weren't for the current circumstances, this would be like a madman speaking, and I would be laughing my butt off._

The squad leader seemed to finally realize that Sasuke was more of a threat than he seemed. The rest of his team fidgeted nervously and some even shuffled a step back. Sasuke continued walking towards them, his teeth bared in a sort of intimidating smirk. He continued bombarding the ninjas with insults, calling them amateurs and good-for-nothing fools. A nerve twitched in the squad leader's forehead. He narrowed his eyes and plunged his hand into his weapon pouch. The rest of his team followed suit.

"Itachi-sama never said whether he wanted you dead or alive!" growled the leader, doing his best to sound frightening, but there was a faint tremor in his voice. "So I guess he'll have to have you dead!" He threw several razor-sharp kunai at Sasuke. Sasuke dodged them, but he apparently hadn't seen the needles hiding in their shadows. Sakura gasped and ran towards him, knowing she couldn't reach him in time. "Sasuke-kun!!!" She cried, running at top speed. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something else racing towards him. It was…a cheetah?

As Sakura gasped and rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the picture, someone grabbed her from behind. She half-turned, but was stopped short by a resounding pain in her head, spilling black, evil darkness across her eyes. The last thing she saw was a blood red sharingan. As this registered in her dulling mind, she fell towards the ground, only to be caught by two strong hands.

Sasuke could hear the whizzing of the needles in the air, the sharpness of them, and he could sense the poison smeared all over them. But there was too little time. He had placed himself directly into the line of fire, all because of his rage. For once in his life, he actually felt regret and desperateness—he hoped Sakura would get to him in time. He closed his eyes, a half smile on his lips. So this was the end? All of a sudden, something flashed in front of him. At first it looked beige and thin, but his eyes must have played tricks on him, since the next moment, the thing was brown and huge. The needles bounced off of it as it crashed to the ground. Actually, braking right above the dirt was more like it. The huge brown thing was now a small robin, fluttering its wings next to his head. The squad leader gaped in astonishment and reached towards his pocket a gain. Then, something somewhere behind Sasuke seemed to change the man's decision, which was just as well. Sasuke was ready to rip the man's head off.

"Men! Retreat!"

In the flash of an eye, the entire Sand squad disappeared, leaving Sasuke and the strange bird in their wake. The bird flapped its wings again and landed on the ground. Seconds later, the strange girl had taken its place.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" The girl looked up at him with almost worshipful eyes.

Sasuke stared down at her, then quickly regained his composure. However, his voice gave away his surprise. "I…uh, I'm fine. Thanks. What happened there? What just—" His hands moved in strange gestures. "First, uh, first you were…was that a cat or something? Then a turtle, then this…a robin. Wait! Was that even you?" Sasuke felt his face burning. This was the first time he'd been at a loss for words. It was very embarrassing, to say the least.

The girl laughed. "Yeah, it's kind of like my special ability. The problem with me is that I can't use any jutsu. I don't know what's wrong with me…I guess I was just born like that."

"Don't your parents know?"

"I don't know who my parents are. They were gone after I was born. An old lady from down the street brought me up. She just died last year."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

She smiled a sad, faraway smile. "No. I'm sorry. What you've gone through is ten times worse." She looked at him with sharp, intelligent eyes. "You know, Sasuke-kun…you've always been my idol. I know…it's strange, but it's true." She smirked and traced patterns in the sand. "You've coped well."

Sasuke didn't know what to say, so he changed the subject. "We better get back to your place." Suddenly he realized that something was very, very wrong. "Hey. Where's Sakura?"


	5. Discovery

Chapter Five: Discovery 

When Sakura woke up, an extremely horrible rock band was playing within a foot of her ear—or at least, that's what it felt like. It was literally like someone was pounding on her head with an anvil. For a few minutes, Sakura couldn't even lift her head just because it hurt so much. When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself under the scrutinizing gaze of none other than Itachi himself.

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. Her mouth desperately sought words, but her voice seemed to have been left behind with her friends. "Ita—Itachi…you…"

Itachi lowered himself from his throne. His voice was soft and lilting, but mockingly amused as well. "Yes. I am here. I believe you were looking for me?" He thrust his face closer to hers, his red eyes gleaming in the half darkness. "Well. Consider me found."

Explosive laughter from behind him told Sakura that there were others in the room as well. A sideways glance from Itachi rewarded Sakura with the horror of realizing that the presence had moved, and rather quickly, too. The person was now crouching at Sakura's side. It was Kisame. He leered at her, the gills on his face twitching, his lips peeled back to expose sharp, murderous teeth. Sakura tried to back away, and with increasing despair, realized that she couldn't.

Kisame saw her flailing limbs and, with lightening speed, grasped her wrist. Sakura cried out in pain. Kisame just laughed. "It should be known…the hunter could easily become the hunted. As it is in your case, cherry blossom." His voice grated against her ears like nails on a chalkboard, but she could not move her hands to shield her ears. "So, my sweet, what brings you to our lovely little cave?"

Sakura was having an extremely bad day. She'd always been told to look at her surroundings, look at what environment she was in, use it to her advantage. Not only had she failed to detect her enemies' presence, but where she was as well. All that had cost her a bruised wrist, if not broken. But her spirit was nowhere in the state of her hand. She glared at Kisame with as much venom as she could muster. "Get away from me, you bastard. I will kill you."

But her bravado had not been enough. Kisame simply squeezed harder, and Sakura could almost hear the bone splintering. Kisame uttered a hollow laugh, his gills flapping like dying fish. "Little girl, you are lucky I've already had my kill today." His eyes, like onyx beetles, squirmed in their sockets, as if they too wanted part of the bloodlust sure to come. He let go of her wrist, his fingers trailing across her pale skin almost lovingly. He narrowed his cruel eyes. "I'll leave you along for a bit, my dear…but don't expect me stay away. I'll have my fun before long."

Sakura was left gasping on the floor as Itachi bound her wrists together with shackles, the cold, unforgiving metal clamping down on her injured skin. Her ankles were forced together the same way, but she was spared the agony of having a collar wrapped around her neck. As Itachi and Kisame left, the steel door clanged behind them, leaving Sakura utterly, hopelessly alone.

Sasuke had driven himself into a furious frenzy. He couldn't believe that Sakura had disappeared so easily. More so, he couldn't understand how it happened. He was positive that Sakura had been behind him the whole time, and the Sand Chounin were always in front of him. How could they have gotten their hands on her? All of a sudden, a light bulb went off over his head. He hurried back to the spot where he'd last seen Sakura. He could still see her footsteps. As he followed them, they were suddenly nonexistent under a large, leafless tree by a large boulder. As Sasuke replayed the scene in his mind, he gasped and immediately leaped to the highest limb of the tree. As he looked down, he saw that one of the smaller branches was nearly broken. This struck him odd. He'd never known an assassin or ninja to be so careless. But that didn't matter anymore. Someone had been here, someone had taken Sakura, and for some reason, it was enough to set Sasuke's blood to a boil. The girl stared at him from below the tree. She had been following his every movement and still hadn't understood most of what he'd done.

"Hey. You. Did you see anything while I was fighting those creeps?"

The girl blinked, startled. "What?"

Sasuke rested his head in his hand and sighed. He was quickly losing his temper to this strange, clueless girl. "I don't know your name."

"Oh!" She laughed. "My name's Ikimono."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Ikimono, remember when I was fighting those goons?"

"Oh, yes! You did marvelously, but I think I'd suggest—"

"Was there anyone else?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. There was this person under a cloak. The person had the most beautifully frightening eyes! Say, wasn't it strange how horribly dark it was when you were fighting them? It was like the sun was suddenly blocked out. The tree, yes the one you're standing on, was much bigger than it looks now. So strange!"

Sasuke stared at her. When he was fighting, the sun had been glaring down at him, almost burning him. Had the girl gone mad? Completely oblivious, the girl continued. "But it must have been my imagination. I wasn't looking where I was backing up and I tripped and my head hit the boulder. I'm really lucky I was born with a hard head, because—"

Sasuke wasn't even listening. His head was swimming with this new discovery. Ikimono had just been the victim of either genjutsu or a mangekyou sharingan. A sharingan…just like the one he and his brother possessed. He knew not of any surviving Uchiha besides the obvious two, and he obviously hadn't done anything. It must have been Sasuke. But why go after Sakura? Sasuke was puzzled. He hadn't sensed anything, so it would have been a perfect time for Itachi to attack him. So why hadn't he?

"Sasuke-kun?" Ikimono was looking at him in concern. "Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?"

Sasuke scowled. "Nothing. We might as well get going."

"But where's Sakura?"

Sasuke's lips twitched in irritation. The stupid girl hadn't even understood what was going on. Oh well, no need to alarm her, he thought. "She's gone ahead. We'll catch up later."

For a second it seemed like Ikimono doubted him, but it was immediately gone, and she smiled. "Sure, Sasuke-kun!"

As Sasuke watched her skip down the streets, he was reminded of his childhood friend, Kira. She was two years his elder. She wasn't really a Uchiha. Her mother was a pureblooded Uchiha, but her father was not. As a result, her sharingan tended to fail her at times. Her parents were often ridiculed, and she was teased and bullied by others, calling her impure and mixed child. However, she was still always happy and content with her life. She was always the first to volunteer to help him with his training when Itachi was too busy. Her skills were the most admirable out of his entire class, and when she demonstrated her power by flipping her teacher, who was twice her size and exceeded her weight, the bullying had immediately stopped. She was very outgoing and fun. They were almost like best friends.

Sasuke burned holes in the ground as he walked. Something had happened though. Her parents were murdered and hung outside her bedroom window. It was horrible sight to wake up to. There were rumors that one of the higher class Uchiha's had committed the murder, but they, too, were hushed up. In fact, even Sasuke himself didn't know much about her. No one wanted to mess with the rich and ruthless. He could still remember everything she'd told him that night, the night before she left. She had just turned ten, and she was ready to avenge her parents. He still remembered her words…

_"Sasuke…I'm leaving tonight." Her eyes had been far away, and he could see the pain in her tightly drawn face. _

_"But Kira!" His voice had been small, afraid. "Kira, you'll get hurt! You'll get killed! You're too young! These people are adults. You're just a girl, Kira!"_

_Kira had turned and smiled at him. "Don't worry about me, Sasuke. I'll be fine. I'm not just any little girl, Sasuke." She had broken into a wide smile at these words and stood up straight. She was very tall. She could have passed for a teenager. "I'm a Uchiha!" _

_Sasuke hadn't bothered to correct her. His heart ached, wanting him to say more. Even at the age of eight, he knew love. He'd always matured more than his parents would have liked. Perhaps it was because of his brother's influence. "Kira…"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Kira, you have to promise to come back. You have to promise to see me again. Please…" And much to his embarrassment, he'd cried. And much to his surprise, Kira did not contradict him. Instead, she had hugged him. "Kira?"_

_She had smiled down at him. "Don't worry, squirt. I'll be back, I promise. And you know what?" She looked at the stars and pointed to the brightest. "See that star? Wish for me every day after I'm gone, okay? I promise, I'll be back." Then she'd kissed his cheek and left, as swiftly as the night breeze and the effect was just as chilling._

A smile tugged at Sasuke's lips. And so he had, every night for three years. Then he'd realized it was hopeless. After she'd left, he heard rumors of her death, and sure enough, she hadn't made an appearance in more than five years. He'd given up hope after a while, and for the past year or two he'd forgotten all about her. He gazed at the sky then looked at the girl skipping in front of him. All of a sudden he could see their similarities. The same bounce in their step, the same glossy black hair, the same twinkle in their eyes. An overwhelming and almost sickening wave of memories flooded over him. He had to ask her.

"Hey…uh, Ikimono."

She turned around, her ebony hair sweeping around like a model. She smiled. "Yes?"

He blinked. "Uh. How old are you?"

She laughed and turned back around. "Guess!"

He could feel himself turning red. He wasn't accustomed to any girl being this forward. "Twelve?"

She stopped and turned around. Her eyes were serious and troubled. "Oh, really?"

"Yes. How old are you really?"

"I would swear that I was older than you. Aren't you fifteen or something?"

"Sure. Something like that."

"Oh well then. That's strange. I'm seventeen." She caught his disbelieving gaze. "I know, I'm kind of short for my age. Maybe I'm too happy. But…I don't feel young." She closed her eyes, clasped her hands behind her back, and tilted her face towards the sun. Her ebony hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall. "I've gone through a lot." She opened her eyes a bit, and with a jolt, Sasuke realized that they, too, were green. Just like Kira's. She had long eyelashes that curled slightly towards the sky. "So have you, right?" She closed her eyes again and laughed. It wasn't really a laugh…just a soft chuckle somewhere in her throat. "What am I saying? I know you have. I was there…always watching."

Sasuke couldn't stop himself. "Kira?"

She turned around, and he found himself captured in her mystical eyes. "Kira's gone. Now it's just Ikimono."


	6. Compensation

**Chapter Six: Compensation **

_Sasuke, where are you?_ Sakura was scared to death. All of her initial bravado was gone. Now all she wanted was to see Sasuke, to escape and forget this had ever happened. She ultimately regretted begging Sasuke to let her come. She closed her eyes and sighed. _Please, please, Sasuke…hurry and come! _She filled her thoughts with him, a half smile tugging at her lips. For a moment, she could see him before her, his eyes on her, strong and handsome like he always had been. A pang of loneliness hit her. Where were they? Why weren't they here yet? The cold made it no better. She could see her breath in the air, a small cloud floating in the air, only to evaporate seconds later.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud clang as the door opened. She lifted her head hopefully, then looked away in disgust. He said her name, stressing every syllable with scorn. "Sakura."

She refused to lift her eyes from the floor and returned the favor. "Kabuto. What a surprise. What are you doing here?"

He crouched in front of her, cool reproach emanating from him like light from the sun. "My, my. Look where your faith in your beloved Sasuke has taken you." But he didn't answer her question.

That got a response out of her. Her head snapped up, eyes flashing with rage. "Don't you dare speak his name! You betrayed us all! You're lucky I'm tied up, or your head would be a foot from the rest of you!"

He laughed, rocking back on his heels. "Funny, funny. Such hot words, and I see that I need not remind you where you are." He leaned forward, leering at her. "You're the one tied up, as you said. And see?" Kabuto showed her his wrists. "I'm not. But soon you'll have company, dear Sakura."

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. "What do you mean?"

Kabuto's eyes narrowed. "Oh, it won't be long till they join you. Then you'll see." He turned away. "Of course, if one of them dies on their way here, I'll bring him here so you can stare at his body…if you'd like."

Sakura lashed out at him, only to be restrained by her chains. "Kabuto!" She screamed. "You will pay for this! You traitor!"

But he was no longer listening. Another figure had entered. Once again, it was Itachi. "Kabuto." He said, his voice soft but dangerous. "I did not give you permission to socialize with our prisoners."

Kabuto frowned. "Permission? I need permission to say a word to a prisoner?"

Itachi smirked. "I am surprised Orochimaru let such insolence pass in his rule. No wonder he is dead."

Sakura saw Kabuto's hands clench into fists. "Of course, my Lord. I…beg your forgiveness."

Itachi nodded curtly. "Since you…exhibit such…interest in this girl, I appoint you to her charge." Kabuto opened his mouth as if to speak, but Itachi cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I have better use of my time than to such duties."

And then he swept from the room like a phantom, leaving two figures in the room feeling doubly cold as they did before. Kabuto was the first to speak. "So. Now I have to stay here. Wonderful." He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Sakura was on her knees, feeling numb. That was the effect Itachi had on her. For some reason, his pale features reminded her of death, a cold death, freezing, clawing at her insides, twisting her heart…a whimper escaped her lips. Kabuto opened an eye and stared at her for a moment.

"He scares you?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

She glanced at him. "What do you care?" she mumbled, looking away. "You're a creep just like him."

"I just work for him. Let's just say that we have a common interest."

"Destroying the Leaf Village?"

"It didn't work so well last time. No…I have something far better in mind."

It was humanly impossible for Sakura's eyes get any bigger. "What is it?" she whispered, as if out of breath.

Kabuto lowered himself to her level. He reached for her face, found it. He stroked her cheek, almost lovingly. And, consumed by her fear, Sakura didn't flinch. Her eyes held a steady gaze, horror and curiosity written all over her face. He leaned in closer, his lips next to her ear. "I want to kill Sasuke. I _**will**_kill him. I will not fail. And Itachi will help me. And I will get what I want. Everything."

And as if on cue, thunder blasted in the sky, shaking the building. And Sakura sank to her knees, trembling. But it wasn't the thunder or the storm raging outside. She'd gone momentarily deaf. In fact, she was momentarily blind, too. Sakura had just fainted.

It had begun to rain. But the two figures in the street couldn't have cared less. Sasuke stood still, staring at Ikimono. If he weren't such a practiced person, he would have exploded with questions, betraying his composure. He allowed himself to raise an eyebrow.

"I don't understand."

Something flickered in her eyes. She smiled, a little girl again. "Oh come on, silly! We're going to get wet! My house is right down there!" She pointed in a vague direction and skipped off.

Sasuke kept silent. He stayed where he was. He was at the top of his class, in all subjects academic as well as others. But this girl was beyond understanding. And if she did know about Kira, then there was no way he was going to give up. He would get everything out of her that he could. He walked forward slowly, following the girl, thousands of thoughts running through his troubled mind.

When they finally reached their destination, they were both sopping wet. The minute he'd walked through the door, she'd thrown a towel in his face. He dried his face, but when he was about to remove the towel from his face, she forced the towel back into his face and led him up a flight of stairs. When they reached the top, she pushed him into a room and left him alone in the room, puzzled. When he came out, he saw that she had put a screen in front of the stairs. The stairs were peculiarly set, with either side blocked by tall bamboo, growing so closely that it was nearly impossible to see into the second floor. He walked towards the screen, meaning to move it aside. Ikimono immediately barred his way.

"Oh, no, Sasuke! You don't want to go there. It's very messy. I cleaned up the guest room just for you! You should look around the second floor first!" She was smiling, but Sasuke was well learned in seeing past deception. She was hiding something, but he might as well play along and make his move at night.

"Sure, Ikimono. What did you mean when you said Kira's gone?"

Ikimono looked at him curiously. "What? When did I say that?"

"Just a few minutes ago. When we were outside."

"Don't be silly! I've never even said anything about Kira! You must have heard wrong." And Sasuke could tell that she wasn't lying this time. His head whirled. What was going on?

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! You're so silly, Sasuke-kun!" She laughed, spinning around in circles. "Aren't you hungry? Come sit in the dining room." As he headed towards the screen, she stopped him. "Oh no, Sasuke-kun. See, the dining room is right here." She pointed to the room at the end of the hall to her right. He followed her to it. The door was open, showing off a set round wooden table with two plush mats on either side. He sat on one and looked around. There were lanterns everywhere. Even though the set-up was simple, there was an elegant air to it. "I've got some onigiri, if you'd like some."

"Sure, Ikimono."

She beamed at him and rushed from the hallway, heading to the left hallway and turning at the room at the end. Seconds later, she popped out with a food-laden tray before he could even look at the screen. "I made these myself! This was my sister's technique, see, and I'm sure that she wouldn't mind if—" She suddenly broke off and winced. "Ow."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing! Enjoy!" She set down the tray, and he could see that there was much more than onigiri on it. There was fried unagi, two bowls of gohan, some tsukemono, kare-age, gyoza, two bowls of tonjiru soup, and sake sashimi. Sasuke stared up at her.

"You made all this?"

Her cheeks glowed red. "Hai, Sasuke-kun. I had a feeling that there would be company today!"

"This is great." His voice had given away no enthusiasm, but he was delighted. He hadn't had a real home cooked meal since…well, since his family had dropped out of his life. He'd been living on restaurant food and an occasional dessert or dish from a girl, and even though it was good, it just didn't offer the comfort and feeling of a meal from scratch. "You did a good job."

She smiled at him. "Eat up!"

He inclined his head towards her. "Itadakimasu."

She laughed. "Hai!"

His face burned. Perhaps he was being too formal? However, it was soon forgotten. The meal was delicious and the atmosphere was quiet but pleasant. When they finished, Sasuke realized with surprise that he was still rather hungry. He hadn't eaten anything for breakfast or lunch, and his stomach had been complaining quietly before Ikimono had found him. She seemed to read his mind. "Wait here."

She disappeared once again into the room at the end of the hall and returned with another, smaller tray. This one had the usual desserts of green tea ice cream and anpan. But to his surprise and pleasure, there was manju and taiyaki as well. Back in Kohona, it was difficult to find a vender that still sold them. The old pastry-maker had died years ago. Of course, it was too expensive to import, and by the time they were received, they wouldn't be fresh.

"Ikimono…"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"This is wonderful. Thank you."

She smiled again. She seemed to be doing this a lot recently. "It's nothing, Sasuke-kun. I'm glad you enjoy it." Her eyes gazed adoringly into his.

His heart did a strange sort of jump in his ribcage. He was suddenly at a loss for words. "Ah, yes. Thank you."

Once again, they lapsed into an enjoyable silence while enjoying the desserts. The manju was wonderfully rich and warm, giving Sasuke a feeling of satisfaction. He would have liked nothing better than to fall asleep right then and there. The mat was soft and stuffed like a pillow, almost like a cloud. He could feel his eyelids dragging down. It had been a strenuous day, in both physical and mental terms. The exhaustion was finally getting to him. He felt a cool hand on his arm.

"Sasuke-kun?" Ikimono looked at him, worried. "Sasuke-kun, you've had a hard day. You should go to sleep now. I have your bed prepared for you already."

She reached for his hand and helped him up. She brought him to the door. Just as his foot touched the ground on the other side of the door, some inner instinct kicked in. "Gochiso-sama deshita." He mumbled, bowing slightly.

Ikimono smiled, her laughter sounding like music to his ears. "Domo arigatou, Sasuke-kun."

She led him to his room, a candle burning brightly. He hadn't realized how dark it was. The lanterns in the dining room had been bright and had flooded even the darkest corners with light. The lone candle has a lot to live up to, thought Sasuke numbly. Moments later, he asked himself why he'd thought of such a thing. But his brain was too muddled and tired to think about it. He more or less collapsed on his bed. The mattress was soft and his head sank gratefully into the pillow.

Ikimono stroked his cheek gently. "Yoi yume o." She whispered softly, floating towards the door. "Watashi no ai." She murmured the last part, and the words followed Sasuke into his dreams, sweetening his memories and thoughts.

When she started to close the door, Sasuke opened his eyes a fraction and whispered, "Oyasumi, Ikimono-chan."

But she hadn't heard. She was already gone. That night, he slept soundly, without a single nightmare to poison his sleep. That night, he slept peacefully for the first time in almost eight years. That night, he forgot about Sakura. That night, he forgot he wouldn't fall in love. That night, he forgot everything and remembered how to live.

Reviews please! Also, if you think I should include translations for the Japanese words in the next chapter, tell me soon! 


	7. Escape

**Chapter Seven: Escape**

Sakura found herself waking up for the second time in an unfamiliar room, this time in a sitting fetal position, her head in her knees. She moaned and rubbed her temples. Then she realized that she could. She stared at her wrists. They were unbound. Her ankles, however, were still bound together, this time with coarse rope. She tried to stand up, but the rope scratched against her legs, and she winced in discomfort. Discomfort, but not pain. She vowed not to make the same mistake she had made before. She took in her surroundings. The room she was in now was a little smaller than the first. And there was even a window, letting in a bit of sunlight and wind. However, it was much still too small for her to squeeze through. The walls were bare but there were designs carved into it. The ground was soft, and when she ran her hand over it, she realized that it was carpet. Ugly, brown carpet, but at least it looked and smelled clean. She turned her attention to the door. It was about a three yards from her and wooden, most likely barred on the other side. She patted the carpet again. It was lumpy in some places. Maybe there was something under it?

The room was definitely more pleasant, but why had she been moved here? She wracked her brain for ideas. She had fainted on her own accord, mostly from the realization that Kabuto had the skills and manpower to actually kill Sasuke. But as to why she was here, she still couldn't understand. There was no way that her captors would _**want**_her to be comfortable. It simply made no sense.

As for her, she didn't plan on staying, even if they supplied her with a luxurious lounge next. She felt for her headband. It was still there. Their mistake, she thought triumphantly. She removed it and tore apart the stitching on the reverse side of the metal plate carefully. There was another metal plate that shouldn't have been there, according to regulation. But Sakura Haruno always goes on missions prepared. She removed the plate. It was just there for her protection. But the blade hidden above it wasn't. It was a small dagger, about four inches long with a half-inch handle. It was a gift from Ino for her fourteenth birthday. In case of emergencies, she'd said. When Sakura got back to Konoha, she'd make sure to thank Ino.

She slipped the blade between her ankles and cut the knot off the rope in one swift motion. She looked at the knife admiringly. It really was some gift! Sharp and lethal, thought Sakura. Just like Ino when she was mad. A smile tugged at her lips, but it was no time to laugh and reminisce. She gathered up the rest of the rope and wound it around her arm, leaving one end in her hand for quick use. She began to search the room for something, anything that would help her. She began by tearing up the carpet. To her surprise, this was pretty easy. It soon became clear that the carpet was only glued down on the edges. Once she lifted up a corner, the rest came without difficulty. It would have been much faster, but Sakura had to be careful not to make any noise. After twenty minutes, the carpet was rolled up and standing in a corner. The floor was made of wood.

Sakura couldn't say that what she found was treasure, because she really couldn't. She found a couple of dead bugs, a small bottle of crimson, bubbling liquid, a silver coin, a few screws and nails, and two necklaces. One had a broken crystal and the other was made of dull pearls. The crystal one might have been pretty at some point, but now it was destroyed and scratched. What could she do with these? Sakura rubbed it, deep in thought. Then she winced. The crystal part had broken off, leaving many sharp points. Even as she watched, a small droplet of blood formed on her fingertip. She licked it off and grimaced. She disliked blood over everything. She hated to admit it, but even as a Healer, she was a little squeamish.

All of a sudden, she could hear someone reaching for the door. She scrambled to her feet and quietly took her place at the door. She could hear the person at the other end swear softly while fumbling with the door. When the door opened and the person stepped into the room, she lashed out with the rope and caught them in the face. It was a young man that she recognized as one of Kabuto's lackeys. She caught him as he fell to his knees and tied him up. He looked at her, frightened, and opened his mouth as if to scream. She covered his mouth and looked around desperately for a gag, anything to stop him from making noise. Then she realized that he had been carrying something. It was a small leather pouch. There was writing on it and it was addressed to her. She stared at the man. He had gone quiet and was shaking his head back and forth, trying to get her hand off of him. She stared at the pouch, then at the man. Should she trust him and reach for the pouch? She took a chance and slowly removed her hand…

Sunlight streamed through the window, bathing a sleeping Sasuke in warm light. The door opened and Ikimono walked in. She began to open the window and Sasuke stirred. He sat up and blinked sleep from his eyes.

She turned around in alarm. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sasuke! I didn't mean to wake you up! I just thought that you'd like some fresh air. This place is beautiful in the summer."

He shook his head sleepily. "It's okay. I can't oversleep. I have things to do."

She looked at him curiously. "Things to do?

He stared at her. That was right. What did he have to do, anyway? In fact, he'd forgotten why he'd come. He stayed quiet. He was suddenly very confused. "I…"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" She bustled from the room. "Let's have some breakfast!"

He sat up in bed and stared at the blanket. There was something nagging at his head. Something was wrong, he had forgotten to do something…but what was it? Ikimono popped back into the room. She was grinning from ear to ear, holding two trays full of food.

"I thought you might like breakfast in bed, so I brought it here." She was genuinely happy to see him, he thought. That was strange.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to be so formal this time. Just eat!" She brought in a chair from the next room and sat by his bed, balancing one tray on her knee and put the other in his lap. There was tomago kake gohan, miso soup, tsukemono, and himono. On the side were fresh fruit salads, containing amanatsu, chestnuts, almonds, pears, bananas, cranberries, strawberries, blueberries, and yuzu. The meal was beautiful as well as delicious.

As Sasuke speared a strawberry, something clicked in his mind. Pink…what did that remind him of? He scrunched up his forehead, thinking. Ikimono laughed. "Sasuke-kun, you look so cute like that! Is there something wrong with your salad?"

"Oh, no, it's great. It's just…looking at this reminds me of something."

"Was it something you've eaten before?"

"No…I think it was something I was supposed to do. Someone…"

Ikimono suddenly seemed to be very interested in her chopsticks. "I…I don't know what you're talking about."

Sasuke stared at her, warning signs going off in his head. But why? What could Ikimono have to do with his thoughts? He looked over to the window ledge. There was a china plate full of water on it, with flowers floating in it. He set his tray on a night table by his bed and walked over, admiring them. "These are beautiful, Ikimono. Did you pick these yourself?"

She joined him, flushing with pride. "Yes. I have flowering trees in my yard. I picked them this morning. Some of them smell really sweet."

For some reason, Sasuke felt drawn to a pink flower right in the center. He prodded it. "Cherry blossoms," said Ikimono, "When I moved here, there was this scraggly old tree. I did my best to nurse it back to health, and look! All my hard work paid off. Now the flowers are so beautiful."

"Yes, they are." On an impulse, he picked it up. There was still a bit of a stem to it. He tucked it behind Ikimono's ear, surprising them both. A slight breeze ruffled their hair, making it seem like a scene out of a movie. When he finally found his voice, his heart supplied the words. "Yes. It is beautiful."

She blushed and hugged him. "You're too sweet."

"Cherry blossoms…Sakura…" His eyes suddenly widened and he pulled away. "Sakura! How could I forget! Sakura! She was captured!" The memories flooded back to him. "I can't believe—I mean, me, of all people—she was captured by…" He struck a blank. "Who was she captured by?"

Ikimono stood by his side silently, not saying a word. Throughout all this, her face had turned pale and serious. There was some pain in her eyes. Finally, she spoke. "I think she was captured by Itachi."

Sasuke's head snapped up. "What?"

"He could have captured her to get to you." The happiness had drained from her face and there was a shield on her emotions. He couldn't read her eyes.

"But why…to get to me? How?"

Ikimono's mouth was set in such a straight line that the words were forced out from between her lips. "Do you love her?"

Sasuke was taken aback. "What?"

Her voice was insistent, hard. "Do you love her?"

It was the first time Sasuke had been asked this. Sakura's smiling face flashed in front of his eyes, her laughter in his ears, her words immortalized in his mind. Memory after memory replayed again and again. Sasuke looked at Ikimono. She couldn't restrain the hurt in her eyes.

"Do you love her?" She asked again, the intent behind her words showing clearly.

"I…" Sasuke felt like cotton was in his mouth. "I…"

The man didn't scream, shout, or yell. He simply stared at her and jerked his head towards the leather bag. He mouthed the words 'open it'. Sakura looked at him suspiciously. 'How do I know you're not trying to trick me?' she mouthed back. He just shrugged. She narrowed her eyes. But she reached for the package anyway, her eyes on him the entire time. The leather peeled back to reveal a weapon belt. Each pouch contained some sort of weapon. There was a note attached. It said:

_Sakura, good luck. Kabuto_

Things were just getting more and more confusing. But she put on the weapons belt anyway. It could come in handy, even if it was from an enemy. She glanced at the lackey. He smirked at her and jerked his head towards the doorway. There was a tray of food there. She looked at the man. He looked away. So that was his plan! Well, whether or not it was a clever ruse, she was hungry. She grabbed a bread roll and stuffed it in her mouth. There were a couple of candies too. She stuffed those in her pocket and poked her head out of the doorway. It was clear. She looked once more at the man. He was gesturing for her to come closer. She did.

He whispered, and she leaned closer to hear. His voice was hoarse and scratchy. "Go left, climb the first ladder you see, make a right, look out the window. It should be clear. We're not that high up. Jump out the window. You'll see a forest. Run into the forest. Keep on going straight, no matter what. You'll see the city you were originally in. There, you're on your own."

"Why are you helping me?" Sakura was bewildered

"I have my orders. Now go." And he began to scream.

That didn't really clear things up, but Sakura knew that it was definitely time to go. She could hear footsteps in the hall. She dashed out the door, eating the roll all the while. Someone yelled 'Hey!' behind her, and she could hear the man behind her keep yelling. She glanced behind her, in time to duck a kunai aimed for her leg. If that had hit, she wouldn't be able to escape. She saw the ladder and began climbing. When her hand reached for the fifth rung from the top, an arrowhead grazed her hand. She cried out in pain, but kept on moving, this time faster. The faster she got out of here, the better.

As she rounded the corner, she ran into Kisame. His eyes widened and he reached for her arm, his lips curling into a snarl. But she held the element of surprise and she darted past him, to the window. She looked down. There was no one there, which was just as well. Kisame had recovered and was running after her, his hand reaching for his sword. She jumped, landed, and ran in a fluid movement. She could hear his awkward thud behind her. Good, she thought. It would take him some time to recover and she didn't plan on wasting a single second. She plunged into the woods, suddenly surrounded by darkness. It was a humid day, and the wetness in the air seemed to smother her, shortening her breath. She cursed the weather for being against her and kept on running.

"I can smell your blood, girl," called Kisame, not too far away, realized Sakura with a sickening wrench at her heart, "You can't escape me, Sakura. I will hunt you down and I will _kill_ you this time. Itachi can't stop me here. I'll say it was an accident."

Sakura had reached a clearing. What Kisame said had piqued her interest. Itachi didn't want to kill her? She was curious and she hated herself for it. And so she stopped. And faced him.


	8. Victory and Loss

**Chapter Eight: A Small Victory for One, A Large Loss for Another **

Sasuke was still stuck in the same position as he was before—standing by the window, with an indignant, but beautiful, girl in front of him, demanding that he profess a love he hadn't yet known existed.

"Ikimono-chan, I—I can't answer that." Sasuke frowned, furious at himself for supplying such a lame excuse.

"Don't lie to me, Sasuke-kun." Her eyes suddenly brimmed up with tears. "Don't you dare! You love her, don't you? Don't you?"

Sasuke looked at her, his face a mask. "Why do you care, Ikimono?" When she didn't answer, he searched her dark brown eyes for an answer, but when he couldn't find it, he tried another tactic. "You obviously know where she is and who took her. You might as well save me from this and we'll leave right away."

Ikimono glared at him. "I **don't** know where she is and I'm **not** positive I know who took her, so why won't you just answer me? It's not such a hard question, Sasuke-kun."

"Yes it is." Sasuke said simply, seeing no other way out.

"_**No it's not!**_" She growled, hands clenched at her sides. "Don't tell me you don't know love, Sasuke-kun. That would be an outright lie. Don't say that a person like you who has experienced more pain than most wouldn't love. Well, stop being so selfish! There are people out there that are worse off than you! People who have experienced more than you! You've never felt heartbreak! Don't let me down now, Sasuke-kun. Tell me now and I can rest easy!"

Sasuke stared at her, surprised at her outburst. "You? So you can rest easy? What does this have to do with you?"

She scoffed, looking away. "It has nothing to do with **me**. But it has everything to do with Kira."

"You **do** know her! But what does it have to do with her?"

She looked at him again, and for a second he saw her despair, her hurt, pain that shouldn't have crossed the features of such a carefree girl. "You've broken her heart, Sasuke-kun." She whispered, shaking her head, a mirthless smile on her red lips. "How could you fall in love with someone else when she's loved you all these years? How could you?" A single tear leaked out of her eyes, and she suddenly looked very much like Kira. Her green eyes were penetrating his, begging for an answer. "How could you forget me, Sasuke?"

Sasuke started. Green eyes? He could have sworn they were just brown. And before that, he could have sworn they were green. Thunder crashed outside, the sky suddenly bleak and empty, like his confused heart. What was going on? What had he gotten himself into?

Kisame caught up to Sakura seconds later. He seemed as surprised to see her as she was surprised to see him so late. As realization hit her, she silently cursed herself for being so stupid. The wind had been blowing hard in her direction, so his voice must have carried far. She had had enough time to find a sufficient hiding place, and even set a trap. But she had just stayed there like a sitting duck waiting to be shot.

"Why doesn't Itachi want to kill me?" demanded Sakura, proud of herself for keeping her voice so steady. "What does he want with me, anyway?"

"Ha…stupid girl." Kisame rasped, reaching towards his sword. "You're just bait! Soon, we'll have killed two birds with one stone!"

Sakura stared at him, light bulbs popping up all over her head. But as each one lit, her face became more and more grim. Itachi's plan would soon become reality and there was nothing much she could do about it. But if she couldn't escape now, she would be as good as dead, if not really. Her hand crept down her thigh, hoping to reach the weapons pouch before Kisame cut her down.

He saw her movement and drew his sword, throwing back his head in laughter. "Little girl, you think you can beat me? Me, the master of—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. He had obviously underestimated Sakura. She had taken of his opening and her speed and threw ten shurikens. To her surprise, more than half of them had hit. Two shuriken hit his gills on both sides of the head, one had hit his sword hand, knocking the sword from his hand, two embedded themselves in his knees, and one grazed his chest, opening a long, diagonal gash under his collarbone. The long hours of target practice had finally paid off, she thought. She chose to ignore the four shuriken in the trees by him. He gaped at her.

"_**Little bitch!**_" He howled, scrambling to pick up his sword. He didn't quite make it. Sakura threw another shuriken in front of his face. He staggered backwards, narrowly avoiding it. As long as she kept him away from his sword, Sakura thought, I might have a chance of winning.

"Not such a big man without your sword, huh, Kisame?" Sakura smirked. If he were mad, he would be more prone to making mistakes. Score one for the girl who listened in class!

"Bitch…" Kisame was carefully extracting the shuriken from his body. He didn't touch the ones in his gills though—they were bleeding too much. He scowled at her. "You won't get out of here alive." He bent his knees, trying to get back the feeling in them. Sakura had hit a key pressure point in them, numbing them.

"Yes I will. I'll get out of here, and leave your body behind." Sakura clenched her hands into fists. This wasn't going well. Kisame could still stand and move around. He was recovering to quickly. She hadn't thought out her plan after all.

Kisame laughed, this time watching her warily. "Such bravado." He clapped his hands. "Very well. Let's up the stakes." He stood in front of her, legs positioned far apart. "I'll let your beloved Sasuke live if you can defeat me, not kill me. I have to admit defeat." He growled. "I'm not one for pain."

She stared at him, thinking it over. "But—"

He took advantage of her indecision and threw a rock at her. A shrewd weapon, but it did what he wanted. She stepped back, surprised. And he grabbed his sword. He straightened up, mouth stretched in a taut grin. "But you'll never get that far." His sword began to glow, and Sakura realized with horror that she was weakening. She had used her chakra as a boost to throw the shuriken, and now she would have no chakra left. She backed up, watching Kisame carefully the whole time.

She glanced behind her, and in that second, impossibly, Kisame was right in front of her. His hand shot out and pinned her to a tree by the neck. Sakura was choking.

Kisame's voice was low, menacing. "Good bye, little girl."

Explosions of red and black erupted in her eyes. She was dying…her numb fingers tore uselessly at his hands. An opening, she had to find an opening! Her half blind eyes focused on his gills, still tender from the wounds. She focused all of her energy into her right foot. And kicked. Her aim was true, and Kisame howled in pain, clutching his neck. Sakura collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. She had succeeded. The shuriken had dug deeper into his skin, and it sure wasn't a pretty sight. Blood was bubbling at the surface, and Kisame's eyes had clouded over with pain. So he hadn't been lying after all. Pain was his weakness. She didn't have to kill him, though the more appropriate expression was that she _**couldn't**_. In her current state, it was a miracle she had even survived.

Kisame was on the ground, writhing with agony. He glared up at her, hate written all over his face. "You…you little bitch…I will kill you…"

She ignored him and went for his sword. His eyes opened wide, mouth gaping. She unwrapped the bindings and exposed the sword itself. It was an aquamarine color. Great. Her least favorite color. This made it easier. As far as she was concerned, Kisame was nothing without his sword. If she could destroy the sword, she could ultimately destroy Kisame. Of course, she knew she was wrong, but it made her feel better. She took a blade from the assortment Kabuto had given her and focused her remaining chakra on it. She struck down with all the force she could muster. She succeeded—halfway, anyway. There was a resounding crack, and as she glanced down, she saw that she had made a hole right in the middle of the sword. Sakura scowled.

She repeated the technique twice more until the sword was completely broken in half. Throughout this, Kisame had just laid on the ground, twitching once in a while, but still completely quiet. Sakura tapped one half on the ground. The sword's power was completely gone, and it crumbled into a dozen pieces. She did the same with the other half, and all that was left was the handle. She put it in the leather pouch and pulled the string tight, she hung it over her shoulder. The rain started again.

"Good bye Kisame." She karate chopped both sides of his neck, and his eyes went blank. And she left. It poured.

Back in Konoha, the two fugitives had no idea what turmoil was boiling. The Hokage was furious, and she had broken at least a roomful of furniture already. The rain did no better for her mood.

"Sasuke I can understand, but Sakura?" Tsunade was screaming at Ino. Poor Ino was the last person to see both Sasuke and Sakura, and now she was being interrogated like she was a criminal. She flinched at every word. "What the hell happened here? Why didn't you do anything to stop them? Did you know this was going to happen?"

"I…Hokage-dono, I knew that Sasuke was going to run away, but I never imagined that Sakura would…"

"Liar." Ino spun around, half in fear, half in fury, but her rage was complete when she saw Naruto, shadowed by the door.

Tsunade looked at him. "Naruto…what do you want?"

He smirked, a cocky grin on his face. "I want to tell Ino-chan that she's wrong. We all know that…Sakura has a 'thing' for Sasuke. She'd follow him to death." He said the last thought with spite.

"Oh, and don't you have a 'thing' for Sakura?" growled Ino, refusing to be humiliated in front of the Hokage. "You could just be making this up so we can go after her…"

"Shut up, Ino." Naruto bristled and Ino backed up a step. He had become much calmer, but much more dangerous. "I never said such a thing. It's all up to Tsunade."

"You never did have much respect, Naruto. Then again I suppose it has everything to do with the person that taught you." Tsunade looked at him, her eyes laughing but her mouth set in a straight line. But he had learned to trust her eyes better. She swatted at a fly buzzing in the corner. "You can stop hiding, frog man."

And so Jiraiya, slid down from the corner in which he'd just occupied as a fly, a big grin on his face. "I never can fool you, can I, Tsunade?"

"Hey, look, it's the pervert Senin." Naruto said, not altogether too surprised, but not angrily, either. "What brings you here?"

"I know why he's here. You want to organize a search party, don't you?" Tsunade butted in, giving him a scornful look.

"You don't know what Itachi's capable of." The Senin said reasonably. "I mean, last time Orochimaru bit Sasuke, and look what he did! Almost caused a war! And Itachi's worse. I mean, hey, I can think of a billion different tor—"

"Shut up, bastard!" snapped the Hokage. "Get out of here!"

He sulked out of the window, but before he left, he winked at Naruto. The damage had been done. Naruto smiled. Now that was someone worth looking up to! Well, Kakashi was pretty amazing, too, but that Senin was on a whole other level!

Tsunade cradled her head in her hands and sat on what was left of her desk. Less than a second later, she hopped back up, scowling. Broken wood tends to wreak its revenge in splinters. She dusted off her backside and removed a sliver of wood, wincing. Naruto watched all this, trying hard to hold back from screeching with laughter. Ever since Sasuke had come back, he'd vowed to be Sasuke's match. The first step was controlling his emotions. Even now, months later, he still found it hard.

Ino looked on, almost in tears. The one who meant most to her was gone! Stolen from her clutches! (No, not Sakura.) And she was so close, too! Just one month, one month, and she was sure that she could have him wrapped around her pinky! And that evil little bitch Sakura had stolen him from her! No doubt, Sakura had captured him! Kidnapped him! Taken him away into her grubby hands when he was vulnerable and…ooooh it was too horrible to imagine.

"So…you two, what do you think I should do?" the Hokage peered over at them from behind the remains of a cabinet. She was rooting around in the misshapen drawers, as if searching for something. "Should I send out a search party?"

Ino was completely taken aback. "But—but Hokage-dono, it's completely your decision! I have no right to—"

"Jeez, Ino, shut up and stop oozing compliments." Naruto snapped, a murderous gleam in his deep blue eyes. He turned his attention to a frowning Tsunade, though she was frowning at what she held in her hand rather than at him. "Send out a search party."

Tsunade looked up at him, amusement tugging the corner of her lips. "Is that an order, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto had the grace to flush reflectively, but he quickly recovered and scowled at her. "Quit mocking me, woman. One day I _**will**_ be Hokage. No one can stop me."

Tsunade groaned and ran a hand over her face, as if to check if she had any new wrinkles. "The Kyuubi has changed you, Naruto. Either that or you've decided to take on Sasuke as your new role model. Honestly, Naruto, I don't know what I could've done to make you hate me so."

Naruto smiled at her, his cheery voice contrasting horribly with the words slipping out of his mouth. "Oh, I don't hate you, Tsunade. I hate all Hokages that gamble."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "In other words, me."

"Precisely."

Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "Well forgive me for my bad habits, but—"

"Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery." Naruto quipped, his face set in stone.

Tsunade's face turned an angry hue of red. "SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BOY!" Her clenched fist smashed into the wall behind her, crumbling it, the pieces falling onto innocent bystanders below. "NOW LISTEN TO ME! YOU WILL ORGANIZE A SEARCH PARTY AND MOVE OUT BY TONIGHT. I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHERE YOU STAY BUT YOU BETTER BRING BACK SASUKE AND SAKURA!" Her voice, already a howl, was carried by the wind all over the village. Everything suddenly fell silent, but the usual hustle bustle of everyday life in Kohona resumed. The entire village was used to their new Hokage's antics. And as she stood there, steaming, Naruto merely smiled.

"I already have a team assembled, Tsunade. We just needed your permission."

A new flood of fury washed over Tsunade, but she had to admit that the kid was smart. However, she hadn't forgiven him yet. It took all of her control not to slap him. But she had a way with words. "Who?" That single-syllable word was thrown at Naruto with all the force of one of her empty bottles when she was drunk.

But Naruto didn't even falter. "Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Hinata. I'll find Sai, too, wherever he is." Sai had taken to wandering lately, and Naruto suspected that he was creating a new jutsu of some sort. "Oh, and I'll get Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro too."

"Hey, what about me?" Ino growled, bristling.

"That's a pretty big team." Tsunade remarked, ignoring Ino. The wind shifted and she was starting to get wet. She began to regret breaking the wall, but of course, the rain was pleasantly cool against her burning, still fuming, skin.

For once Naruto seemed genuinely worried. "This isn't the regular A-rank mission…this is way beyond. We need the best of the best."

Tsunade regarded him quietly. The howling brat of a couple years ago had disappeared, leaving an almost-man with a calm deposition (most of the time). It was too good to be true. Then she saw through the deception and snickered.

"Kakashi…you bastard."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in amusement. There was a puff of smoke and, instead of Naruto, Kakashi smiled through his mask, though the cold fury at having failed at his act was very visible. "What, Tsunade, I didn't act the part right? I said everything that Naruto would. I even stood the way he did and memorized all the lines, damn it."

Tsunade threw back her head in laughter, while Ino stood there, pale-faced and jaw agape. "You did it too well, Kakashi. That's how I was able to tell. Naruto slips sometimes, he shows different views of personality. You stayed on track all the time." She winked at him. "Not to mention that he no longer wears that orange jumpsuit."

Naruto jumped out of the closet, scowling. "It is _**not**_ a jumpsuit!" Ino looked like she was on the verge of fainting. Naruto barely spared her a glance before crossing his arms at the Hokage, glaring at her. "Now can we go or not?"

Tsunade didn't answer him directly. She gazed at Kakashi, smiling. "What else is a set-up? Is Asuma hiding in that strangely shaped shadow over there?"

The shadow abruptly writhed and changed form. Jiraiya grinned. Tsunade groaned. "Let me guess…"

"A clone." Naruto laughed, a cocky grin plastered on his face. "Now come on, lady, are we going or not?"

Tsunade moaned. "Oh, you people drive me crazy." She waved a hand in the vague direction of her door. "Just go, go, and take your madness with you. You, Jiraiya, Kakashi, I want you with them. Take Might Guy with you."

Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Naruto all stiffened at the same time and gave her the exact same incredulous look. Ino just swayed and fell to the floor with a dull thump. Tsunade stared back at them, with equal caliber. "What? He drives me nuts too." She rubbed her forehead. "Him and his talking turtles…"

And the three remaining occupants of the room (except for Tsunade and Ino, of course) shared a laugh, umbrellas, and later, bowls of ramen, and most importantly, a plan, before they slept, gathered their troops in the morning, briefed them, went for more ramen (suggested by Naruto, of course), and finally left. And in all of the confusion and excitement and chatter, the soaked girl in the forest and the dark haired boy torn between his heart and instinct were momentarily forgotten.


	9. Unrequited Love

**Chapter Nine: Unrequited Love **

Time stood still, unmoving, as Sasuke stared at Ikimono, eyes wide, mind racing, heart beating so fast, he wondered faintly if he was having a heart attack.

"You…" Sasuke's lips barely moved, face numb. "What are you talking about? I just met you!"

Ikimono's face turned livid, and her voice shook with badly concealed fury. "Just met me? _**Just**_ _**met me?**_ Take a good look at me, Sasuke, and tell me what you see!" Her eyes shone with freshly spilled tears, and not wanting to aggravate her further, he did his best to calm her down.

"Look, just calm down!"

"Tell me what you see!"

"Fine, I see a very pretty girl crying."

She snorted, indignant but somewhat quieter. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Sasuke." She grabbed his shoulders, and with surprise he realized that she had somehow grown five inches in the past half hour or so. She was now nearly eye-to-eye with him. Her green eyes glittered with some unknown emotion. "Look at me. No, Sasuke, I mean it. Really, really look at me."

And so he looked her over again, doing his best to try and figure out what she was talking about. Her pale, glowing complexion, bright green eyes, full red lips, shining black hair, slightly tapered ears, long curved eyelashes, smooth, arched eyebrows, slightly upturned nose, delicate neck, sharp white teeth, thin but strong arms and legs, a figure most women dreamed of, and finally, her neatly manicured and glossy fingernails, narrowed to a point, digging into his skin. As he registered this last observation, something triggered his memories.

It had been one of his better memories, happening right before the murder of Kira's parents. As he was swept away into the sanctuary of his mind, he was once again eight, and Kira was with him. They were walking by the small stream by the meadow, and, according to Kira, they were searching for where the stream came from.

_"See this stream, Sasuke?" Her voice was soft, melodious, her black hair gently ruffled by the summer wind. _

_"Yes, Kira. It's beautiful." Like you, Sasuke thought, walking behind her, watching her silently. _

_"This stream comes from a big river, and that big river is sure to have lots of adventures!" Her voice was confident, unwavering. He greatly admired her pride and self-motivation. _

_"That will be fun." Sasuke said, studying her neck, secretly thinking that it was like a swan, delicate but strong. A pang of heartache hit him as he realized that he had no chance of being with her. Even though he was tall for his age and he was almost as tall as she was and that he had skipped many grades, their ages kept them apart._

_She turned around on him suddenly, studying him. "What's wrong with you, Sasuke? You usually talk and talk and talk. Why are you so quiet?"_

_Because I've finally realized I love you, thought Sasuke, but instead he answered, "I don't know. I don't feel very well."_

_She leaned in close and touched foreheads with him. He flushed, much to his embarrassment. "Hmm, you're a bit hot, but you should be fine. Do you want to go home? We can do this another day."_

_"No!" He was abashed by his own eagerness. "Lets…let's go."_

_And she had smiled at him. She slowed down so he could catch up. They walked in silence for a while, each enjoying the other's company, and when she finally spoke, her expression was so mischievous that Sasuke momentarily wondered if she had stuck a lizard in his pack again. He snuck a peek into his pack. No lizard in sight._

_"—you know?" With horror, Sasuke realized that he had missed everything she'd said._

_"I…I…" Sasuke, mortified, stared at his feet, not knowing what to say._

_Kira laughed. "You weren't listening, were you?"_

_Shame-faced, he shook his head._

_"Alright, dummy, listen this time!"_

_He nodded, sneaking up a glance. _

_"I said, you know how our parents say that we're two years apart?"_

_He looked up, confused. "Yes…I'm eight, you're ten."_

_She laughed again. "Turns out it's not that clear-cut! I found out a secret!" She put a conspiratorial finger on her blood red lips. "See—"_

_She hadn't gotten to finish her sentence. There was a yell behind them. It came from a young girl, also with black hair, but so far in the distance that Sasuke couldn't tell who it was. Kira rolled her eyes. _

_"Ugh, it's my sister. Whatever, I'd better go." She turned to go, but he grabbed her arm._

_"But, Kira, what did you find out?"_

_She looked him up and down. "I'll tell you next time I see you, Sasuke." She said mysteriously. When she saw him pout, she laughed. "I've really got to go, Sasuke."_

_"Fine. Bye." _

_She smiled at him, then leaned in close. She took hold of his shoulders, leaned in closer, and kissed him on the cheek. Then she ran away, but turned back and waved. "Bye, Sasuke!"_

_And he had just stood there, shock-still._

As if on cue, sun came out from behind the clouds and shone so brightly, he almost had to squint. He still remembered her scent, lavender like the flower garden she so desperately took care of. He remembered how close she had been. He remembered the feel of her soft lips against his flushed skin. And he remembered her hands, her nails digging into his skin…just like Ikimono was doing now.

"Well?"

He returned to the present with an unpleasant jolt. He had relived that moment many times over in his head and would give anything to see Kira again. He never had found out what she'd meant to tell him. Her parents were murdered that night, and the next time he'd talked to her, it was the night that she left.

Ikimono was staring at him with such intensity that he squirmed under her gaze. "Well, do you know me now?"

"Of course I know you..."

But she gathered the worst from the look on his face. "Oh, geez, do I honestly have to tell it to your face?"

As she said that line, something hit Sasuke with the force of a giant hammer. It was realization. Time sped up again, but he felt like he was lagging. His limbs felt as heavy as giant boulders, and his lips were numb and pretty much useless. He fought to keep his emotions at bay. He mentally slapped himself for being so stupid and slow. Exhilaration and nostalgia flooded him, but there was still some disbelief. He had to make sure.

He leaned in close to her, startling her. Their foreheads touched. "Hmm, you're a bit hot, but I think you'll be fine." She flushed, but before she could talk again, he went on. "You never did tell me what you found out."

And before he could go on, she let out a little squeal, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him.

Luckily, Sakura had found a sort of leather poncho in one of Kisame's pockets (along with some other things she felt were worth taking). However, the rain was still horridly unforgiving and the road horribly steep, so as Sakura trudged sullenly through the forest, clutching her pack, she tripped on a slimy root and fell promptly on her backside. She yelped as her clothes were thoroughly soaked with mud. She let loose a string of curses, for there was no one around to hear her gripe, and did her best to brush off leaves and random junk now plastered all over her clothes.

She stared at the sky angrily. "Why can't this all clear up?" The only response was a flash of lightening and the boom of thunder. Sakura scowled and moved on. After what seemed like an hour of endless walking (and thoughts of Sasuke), she finally saw a village up ahead. As she neared its borders, the sky immediately brightened and the sun came out again. As she stared at the sun in awe, someone tapped her on her thigh. Horrified, she was about to kick whoever had the nerve to do that, but as she looked down, she realized that it was actually a little girl who couldn't reach any higher.

"Who are you?" The girl was extremely cute, with large brown eyes and light brown, almost red hair pulled back in plaits. "Are you new here?"

"Oh, hello. I'm Sakura…umm…yes…I'm new. Where am I?"

"This is the Village Hidden in the Sky."

"The sky? You can't possibly mean I'm in the sky."

She looked at Sakura sourly. "You're not saying I'm lying, are you? I'm forbidden to lie…"

"Oh, no! No! Not at all…I'm sorry, I'm just a bit shaken, that's all…" Sakura was a little disgruntled, as the little girl stared into her eyes, as if searching for something.

But the girl refused to lower her gaze. "You came from down there."

"From Hell?" Sakura tried to loosen the atmosphere, but the girl didn't laugh.

"It might as well be." She said, looking down with a hint of a grimace, as though there were things down there she'd rather not talk about. Sakura knew better than to ask. This girl, though only maybe seven years old, was wiser than her, and with a shorter temper. She was better left alone.

But Sakura needed to talk to someone. "Is there an elder or someone I can talk to?"

The girl glared up at her. "What, you think that I'm just a little girl?" She leaned in closer. "What would you say if I said I was hundreds of years old?" She whispered conspiratorially, "What would you say then?"

Sakura frowned. "I'd say that was impossible."

The girl grinned, shaking her head. "You're wrong." She said, almost spitefully, "There's nothing that's impossible." She doubled up and laughed raucously. When her head came back to view, it was changed. It was the face of an older woman. She smiled and laughed again at Sakura's shock, and a cloud of smoke erupted around her.

Sakura was swept off her feet and landed on her back. She inhaled smoke suddenly, and spat it out just as quickly. She sat back up warily. In front of her stood an old woman, a little shorter than Sakura, with dark brown hair dashed with silver tied back in a bun. Her back was straight and her eyes sharp like a falcon's, piercing right through Sakura. She was young looking for her age, and there were hardly any wrinkles on her face. Her face was lightly tanned and her lips thin and red. When she smiled again, her teeth were completely white and straight. In other words, she was a beautiful young angel, for one old enough to have great-great-great-great-grandchildren.

Sakura gaped at her. "You…you transformed!"

She smiled. "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet. My name is Toki."

But Sakura would not be deterred. "Wait a moment. You can't be hundreds of years old. You look like…like someone who's thirty, or younger. And that transformation…the smoke shouldn't blow me back. Choke me; make me cough, maybe, but not blow me back a couple feet. That was no normal transformation. And I've never heard of such a transformation either..."

Toki laughed. "Good, good, I remember when I was that age. Very curious." She leaned back against a wooden pole behind her and smiled. "Almost rebellious. Well, I was born with a gift to…almost…live forever. I can become whatever age I want. Very useful, actually. I can slip out of crimes I've committed since I can be years younger or older in seconds." She grinned. "Yes, very useful…"

Sakura shook her head, confused. "Okay, okay. But what did you mean when you said I came from hell?"

"There used to be a village down there. It was simply beautiful, with waterfalls and everything. There were birdsongs to wake you every morning. The people that lived there were gorgeous, like gods and goddesses." Her face clouded over. "Then Itachi came and ruined their paradise. He killed many of them and kept the rest of them as slaves. Then he took advantage of their land and built a fortress. Now barely anyone can get in." She eyed Sakura suspiciously. "Or out, for that matter. How did you manage it?"

"I had the help of someone inside." Sakura said, toying with her weapons pouch. "I wonder if he's alright now. If he's found out, he'll probably be killed."

"Someone you love."

"No! No, I hate him."

"Then why would you care?"

"Because…he risked his life to save me, and I don't want him to die at my expense." Under the woman's unwavering look, she hastily added, "And I want to know why he did what he did."

"Sometimes there aren't reasons to why you do things. Sometimes they're just on an impulse."

Sakura frowned. "It's unwise to follow impulses."

"And you're telling me, little girl? First of all, I'm a wise woman. I'll decide whether or not something is wise. And second, the only reason you're here is because of an impulse."

"Psychic as well." Sakura muttered bitterly, glaring at the floor.

"I'll read your fortune, dear, in exchange for information on how you got out. I have a friend that they hold prisoner there." Before Sakura could decline, Toki said, "You'd be surprised how realistic my fortune telling is, my dear."

"Alright, fine…and maybe for some food too. I'm starving."

Once inside the woman's hut, she took out a bag and poured out small, smooth white objects with runes on them.

"What are they?" wondered Sakura, touching one. It was cold, but they seemed to hold great power.

"They're bones, my dear, of the greatest wise woman that ever lived. My great-great-great-great-great—"

"I get it, I get it."

"Then be quiet and don't scream when I do this."

"Do what?"

Toki grabbed Sakura's wrist, and with a deft flick of a blade concealed in her fist, drew blood. Sakura felt sick as Toki put a drop of blood on each bone disk. When she was done, she healed it and let go. Sakura clutched her wrist balefully and looked at Toki suspiciously.

"Oh hush, girl, it couldn't have hurt that much." Toki chided, using her chakra to lift the bones in the air. They spun round and round, faster and faster until all she could see was a white and red blur. Then, abruptly, Toki let them fall.

After pondering and studying them for a while, Toki looked up at Sakura, a newfound respect in her eyes.

"Your death is near, and it will be caused by the one you love most. The one you would die for is in deep trouble. He had fallen in love with someone that can only mean his suffering. That person is a spirit that inhabits another's body. Not an evil spirit, but one that will go as far as to kill in order to keep the one she loves with her. She wouldn't die for him, but she would kill for him. She has a love for him that runs so deep it's almost an obsession. The worst kind of love; the most dangerous." Toki's eyes filled with tears. "You'll never know what it is like to be really, truly loved. You'll die before then. And the worst part of it is…it'll be a noble death, but that death is caused by love."

"By…love?"

Toki didn't answer for a long time. Instead, she stared at the runes in front of her. "Love…it's the best and the worst part of us. If you don't want to die soon, then don't love. Give up on him, Sakura, because he can't ever love you back."

"But…I have a chance, Toki, he's finally coming around…"

"This girl is obsessive, Sakura. He can't ever love you. He's loved her from the moment they met."

"But he said…he's never been in love before."

"He lied. His love is carved in his heart. They're meant to be together. Don't be foolish, Sakura. Are you really willing to die for something like this?"

Sakura looked at Toki. "Yes." But her heart was aching with fresh wounds. _Why, Sasuke…why?_

** Ooohh Sasuke, you're in trouble!! x Sorry for the long lapse in between chapters, packing for a cruise to the Caribbean next week for my 14****th**** birthday!! D Enjoy!! **


	10. The Truth

**Chapter Ten: The Truth**

Sasuke could feel her hands, cool and slender, at the back of his neck, but he didn't dare move, for more reasons than one. First, there was a pleasant shock pulsing through his system. Second, he had never been kissed before (he definitely did not count Naruto's…in fact, in his book, it never happened) and was unsure how to react. Third, he felt like he was somehow betraying Sakura, but even though was nothing official between him and her, it still somehow didn't feel right. After running through a rack of ideas through his brain, nothing seemed to fit, so he stayed still.

As for Kira, she was ecstatic, but Sasuke was still. He didn't respond or even move at all. It was like he just froze. It wasn't like she'd expected him to grab her and kiss her, but she expected some sort of warm welcome, not a frozen demeanor. Maybe he didn't like her anymore? Maybe their childhood crush hadn't stayed with him all these years? But then he stirred a bit, and she dismissed the thought. He was just Sasuke, there could be no way there was another girl. No, it must be that he was just surprised. And she really didn't blame him. She was surprised too; she hadn't expected to see him so soon.

On Sasuke's side, he was still confused. The kiss was lasting longer than 10 seconds, and he supposed maybe he should respond. He leaned forward a little and tilted his head slightly. He hated things along the lines of romance and love; it was the only thing that eluded his grasp. He was hardly experienced in that matter, and had always deemed it useless, preferring to follow his instincts than his heart (he's always insisted there was a difference, though others begged to differ). Suddenly, he started to lose balance, and, rather than fall or stumble against Kira, he took a step back to steady himself. Too late, he realized that this might have been relayed wrong. And, of course, he was right. Kira glared up at him.

"What?" she said, obviously hurt, "What did I do wrong now?"

"Uh…" he hadn't meant to ruin her shining moment, but now he had no explanation for his actions. He was stuck. However, he definitely was not going to confess that he had almost fallen, so he wracked his brain for a likely excuse. "It's nothing."

She wasn't satisfied. "Nothing's ever nothing, Sasuke. Now what's up? Something wrong?"

"No, not really." He said, still trying to think of something. Suddenly, a pink flower blossom caught his eye, and he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Sakura!"

"Yeah, it is." Kira said, fingering the blossom fondly, half smiling. "I grew them myself."

"No, I meant the girl." Sasuke continued, not thinking. "She's still trapped with Itachi. We've got to go get her!"

Kira narrowed her eyes. "We?"

He stared back at her dumbly. "Well, aren't you going to help me?"

She looked away. "I don't quite like her, Sasuke."

"Well she's still my friend!"

"Yes, I get that, and I respect that, but you'd better not try and get her out—it's suicide."

"Suicide or not, she's helped me a lot, and I owe this to her."

Kira was quiet for a while, but then she spoke again, but this time her voice was soft and dangerous. "Are you sure it's just that? Nothing else?"

"Don't start this again!" Sasuke felt strangely weary and annoyed. "She came to help me, and I've got to return the favor."

"Just the favor?" Her eyes were narrowed, cruel, but Sasuke didn't know what to say or do to calm her down.

"Yeah, yeah, just the favor." Sasuke said, but somehow, he couldn't look her in the eyes when he said it. Something twisted and turned in his chest, and he frowned slightly, squirming a bit under Kira's unrelenting gaze. After a few merciful moments of silence, a pause in the interrogating questions on Kira's part, Sasuke realized that it was his heart wriggling in his ribcage. What was wrong with him? He hadn't felt so…it was hard to place a word to it, but he felt like there was an aching pressure pushing down hard on him, flattening his heart and stabbing at a spot above his navel.

Kira said nothing, watching him silently through troubled eyes. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and after an internal battle, she apparently won and grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, spinning him around to meet her eyes.

"Hey—Kira—stop, stop, what are you—" Sasuke was silenced by the venom in her eyes. Suddenly he realized that her eyes were no longer green—they were brown, with a dark edge that made them look almost black. "Kira?"

She smiled, teeth sharp to such an extent she was like a vampire; after all, she did act like one. She was luring him closer and closer with her eyes…and then lunged—but instead of biting _him_ she bit the air right next to his left ear. Sasuke turned his head inches to the left, trying to see what she was doing. The sight that met his eyes was so frightening; he backed away, shaking off her now lax grip. But when he tried to go further, he couldn't. It was like he was bound to her for the moment.

Kira was—no, Sasuke realized, this wasn't Kira anymore—the girl that looked remarkably like Kira, only shorter, was writhing on the floor, some kind of blue gas twitching in her clawed hands and a liquid leaking down the corner of her mouth, her fangs stained the same color. With a pang of horror, he realized that it was his chakra. Somehow, she'd bitten into his chakra, and swallowed it like a real vampire. After the initial shock, he realized that she was suffering, and vampire or not, this was Kira's body, meaning if something happened to the vampire, Kira would feel it too. She was facing the ground, body contorting in agony, so he grasped her around the waist and pulled her up. She gasped in pain and tilted her face towards him. Sasuke let go immediately, scrabbling backwards. Her eyes were huge, like mirrors, and reflected in them were not Sasuke of the present, but him from the past, all of his memories, replayed right there, like a giant television screen. A few moments later, her eyes returned to normal again, a light brown, but just as suddenly, they were crystal green again.

"So, you lied." Kira said in a rasping voice, clutching her chest, doubled up in pain. "You…you have feelings for that…that girl…you lied to me…Sasu-Sasuke…" She gasped, forcing herself to her feet, grasping a nearby stool for support.

"I don't!" Sasuke said indignantly, anxiety and worry scarring his usually emotion-lacking features. "And I didn't lie to you! What did you just do?"

She smiled, pale and wane, "I read all of your memories, your feelings, your conscience…you in the very depth of the word. I know things about you that you yourself don't know."

"Then I didn't know it myself, so how could I have lied?" retorted Sasuke, still a few cautious steps back. "You couldn't do that last time. I know you couldn't."

"These aren't _my_ powers, Sasuke. These are my sister's." said Kira, leaning on a table. "I just borrowed them for the moment."

"Those aren't normal abilities, Kira. Who exactly is your sister?" Sasuke edged a bit closer, extending a helping hand.

Kira tilted her head up, and an insane look spread over her face, stilling her, but making her look like an obsessive fan of whatever she was going to say. "My sister?" She lowered her head and whispered passionately, "My sister is Itachi's pet." She spat out the last word like a bug, almost grimacing at the taste of the word itself. "And I didn't say they were abilities. They aren't. They—they're powers. Stolen from other people. It was Orochimaru's ability, to steal from others and take them for his own. But Itachi was smarter, better, more skilled. He copied Orochimaru's abilities…and mixed them with others, then gave them to his most loyal followers. He created what he called "the rulers of tomorrow". I call them the freaks of today. They plundered, but in secret, killed all who opposed Itachi—and that's how he raised so freakishly quickly into power. And—and my sister helped." The last few words were spoken so quietly Sasuke almost missed them.

Sasuke backed up a bit. "And you? What did you do?"

"I finished my job. It was hard and long, since they fled from me, and were faster. But I was smarter. I killed the people that killed my parents, and I was ready to go home. But when I returned…" She looked up again, pain written all over her face. "No one was there. They were gone. At first I thought maybe they had all gone on a village vacation, or they were on a mission, but something didn't feel right. I left the village and asked travelers on the road about what had happened. And then I found out…"

"Everyone was buried." Sasuke continued, staring down at her. "You came back after they were dead. It was too late."

Kira sniffed and wiped a tear away from her face. "Yeah. I went to the cemetery and suddenly realized how big it was."

"They expanded it. There wasn't enough room for all the bodies." Sasuke shared his story with hers, filling in the gaps.

"There were some unmarked graves, where the people were too mutilated to be identified. I saw Hoshi's grave, Toki's grave, and poor little Ichi, too. I cried over every grave, and said a prayer for each soul. I counted the graves. There were a few too little."

"Mine, Itachi's, and I'm guessing your sister's?"

"And some others, too. I wondered if there had been mass burials. It was likely, since there were so many bodies. Then I wondered who buried them."

"Friends from other villages. They couldn't identify some, for the unmarked graves, because they didn't know them very well."

"I dug them up. I wanted you to be alive. I wanted my sister to be alive. I wondered where Itachi was, and I wanted to torture him until he begged me for the escape of death. The ones who dug the grave were stupid. They couldn't identify some of the people. Luckily for me, the graves were fresh. It seemed I had come to the cemetery only a few days after the deaths."

"The unmarked were Itachi's enemies. They weren't us."

"I knew something was wrong. Itachi couldn't have killed you; I knew he wouldn't. But my sister? What could have been so important about her? Absolutely nothing. Yes, she could absorb other people's abilities sometimes, but it was always temporary. She had learned to control it. It seemed fishy, but at that time I didn't know Itachi's intentions. I check every house. I checked every secret passageway. I scoured all nearby towns and villages. I combed through the forests and lakes, and interrogated every passerby. I captured one of Itachi's followers and finally got some information from him. My sister was alive, but I didn't know where she was. The man stabbed himself before I could ask. So I came to a quick conclusion. The only survivors were you, she, and I. but I wasn't sure where her loyalties lied. By then, it had already been a year. My sister was young. She wasn't yet sure who was good and who was bad. Itachi might have turned her against me."

"So you searched for her." Sasuke said, eyes widening. "I heard, when Itachi and Orochimaru were talking one night, that the only other survivor of his attack besides the ones he had spared was close to tracking him down. He feared you, even if it was only a little. He called a girl to his side. I couldn't tell who she was in the darkness, but she might have been your sister. He told her to lead someone on a dead trail."

Kira sneered. "But I was smarter. I saw past everything and realized that the one who had set everything up was my sister. I taught her those techniques. There were little messages within each trap she set, each trail that led to a different town, each person that was set up to see her at a place, and in the direction she was going. My sister was trying to find me, but she wasn't sure if I really was her sister."

"You found Itachi's lair and your sister. But he knew you were coming. He was smart."

"And I was desperate." Kira sobbed, eyes clouding over. "He took her hostage, threatened to kill her, offered me acceptance into his elite ninjas."

"He manipulated you, making you think that your sister had turned against you. He let her go in your plain sight, when you were furious and believing every word he had said, and you attacked her. But she fled, terrified, and Itachi seized the moment to try and kill you."

Kira gasped. "What? How did you know?"

"I was there." Sasuke frowned, trying desperately to remember what had happened. "I had been tracking down Itachi too. But you got to him first, and I watched you from the shadows. I didn't know who you were, since you wore a mask, and your voice echoed off the walls—I couldn't tell who was speaking. But I did know that your sister was innocent. You saw Itachi out of the corner of your eye, and you dodged it just in time, countering with a strike of your own. I saw your fighting style, and I was convinced that I had to help you, and when we won, I would ask you who you were."

"You were the person that came out of the shadows!" She cried, realization flooding her pretty features. "I didn't recognize you, it had been years since I saw you! You didn't step any closer to me or him, you just threw weapons and dodged his attacks."

"I couldn't hold him back. It was hard, and someone grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me back. It was Orochimaru. I ended up fighting a battle of my own, and I couldn't help you."

"I was wondering why you disappeared!" said Kira, leaning forward, eager to share her side of the story. "Itachi and I were both very injured, I more so than him. But he was worried his wounds were fatal, he heard a cry, must have realized it was his ally's dying scream, and fled, leaving me for dead and my sister a lost cause." Kira's eyes were vacant for a moment, but there was color flooding her cheeks. "I was on the verge of death, and I wondered where my savior was. But out of the shadows came not you, but my sister. She performed some complicated jutsu that, even to this day, I do not understand, and my soul, my very being, separated from my body and entered hers. I left my old body behind, and we have shared an entity since. For nearly three months, I could not free myself from her, to surface and see the world and feel my body again. When I finally could, my looks, my clothes, my skills were returned, and I soon found that I could use my will to control my sister. I didn't care anymore whether or not she felt. I let her enjoy life sometimes, but I still hated her for working for Itachi. She had begged him to spare her, and he did. Of course he used her, but she was still alive. Beg! Honestly, I'd rather have died."

"That vampire thing…that was her ability?"

"Yeah, it was, among others. I can borrow them whenever I want. This isn't even my body, but I like to think that it's my second shot at living. I'm going to make the best of it." Kira's eyes focused once again on Sasuke. "But first, let's go back to Sakura. Who exactly is she?"

Sasuke moaned inwardly. Not this again!


	11. Obsession

**Chapter Eleven: Obsession **

"Sakura, dear, are you all right in there?" Toki's concerned voice floated from outside the door to inside the room. "You've been in there for hours! Do you want something to eat?" It was strange; Toki had somehow adopted a motherly/grandmotherly nature in the past few hours or so, and it was almost comforting. But the last thing Sakura wanted now was to have someone to care for her. All she wanted to do was lie on this soft bed and think and be left alone.

"Yes, I'm fine, Toki." Sakura called back, hiding her annoyance. "I'm not hungry though, thank you!"

"Well…can I come in?" It seemed Toki wasn't ready to give up yet.

"Fine." Might as well humor her, thought Sakura.

Toki came in, in the form of a young woman, seeming old enough to be Sakura's older sister. "Sakura…I—I'm sorry." Her face was flushed and uncomfortable, but her voice was sincere and almost guilty.

"For what?"

"I never should have read your fortune. I've hurt you so much, haven't I?"

"It's not you that hurt me, Toki. I think I was expecting that to happen anyway, having Sasuke not return my feelings. Maybe he's just way out of my league."

"No, Sakura! If you're talking of leagues, you're not even in his ballpark!" Toki spoke with such passion that Sakura looked up, surprised.

She laughed. "Oh, thanks, but I'm not sure that's true. Sasuke was never really interested in me, just in what I might become." She frowned, her pink bangs dangling off her forehead. She tugged at one strand, deep in thought. "And I was just drawn to him by his mysterious nature and his murky past. I think everyone was. He's really very handsome, too."

Toki sat still, playing with her shirt. "Those kinds of guys really are the best, aren't they? They're athletic, smart, good-looking, mysterious, emotionless; there's really only one of them in the world. But it's hard loving them. They just distance themselves from everyone else, and you never know what they're thinking. They're just not capable of love."

Sakura buried her face into a pillow. "Et lie nu meek num a spear eon the, ef nu lunt mine me athing."

The older girl stared in confusion. "What?"

She quickly uncovered her mouth. "Oh, sorry! I said, it's like you speak from experience, if you don't mind me asking."

Toki smiled wistfully. "I don't mind you asking, and now that I think about it, it would be a good story for me to tell. You'd gain a lot from it."

Sakura immediately sat up attentively. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." Toki said, smiling. Her eyes grew misty as she started her story, her hands fidgeting with her blouse all the while. "When I was younger, much, much, younger, maybe thirteen or fourteen, I fell in love. There are people out there who say that children don't know love. But they're wrong. Kids can fall in love, and the magnitude of that love can be stronger than an adult's; with or without sleeping together. It was an on and off relationship between the two of us, always me breaking it off simply because sometimes I couldn't understand him, and his violent and moody temper frightened me from time to time."

Sakura was breathless. "Tell me more about him."

Toki gladly complied. "He was taller than me by three or four inches, and he had black, black hair. He was constantly changing his hairstyle, but his hair was always rather long. Not long, like how people wear it now; but just to the back of his neck, and bangs in the front. He had rather narrow, small eyes, but they were clever and secretive. His vision wasn't perfect, and he wore glasses. They weren't thick or anything; just glasses. They made him seem smarter, but since he never displayed his intelligence to others, they would consider it irony. He was a visitor from another village who had decided to stay; he was a different ethnicity from me, but he was still Asian. He had a crimson mouth on a pale face that either flushed in amusement or darkened in fury. He was strong and well built; a good fighter. He was, however, not the handsomest guy out there, and he had some fat on him, but he was gentle and attractive in his own way. He was my best friend before he was my boyfriend, and even after the breakups, we were close."

"He sounds perfect." The younger girl breathed, eyes wide. "What went wrong?"

"That's the same question I asked myself every day." Toki said sadly, pulling on her hair. "He was perfect; at first. His hugs were soft and gentle; he respected me, and he knew when I wanted space. He treated me like a goddess, and made me feel beautiful. He never pushed too hard at boundaries; he simply waited for them to melt away in time. He was so patient and caring." She frowned. "But he had a dark side that people knew, and feared. Because he was so good at fighting, he was a terror when he got mad. There was hardly a person strong enough or brave enough to stop him. He never hit me or hurt me physically, but seeing him like that was like a stab in the heart. I loved him so much, but I knew there was something wrong with him, too. He was moody and depressed, and he wouldn't lower his walls even for me. That was one reason I left him, though it was never the reason I told him."

"What was the other reason?"

"The other reason was that…he had a charisma, as I might have mentioned before. There was just something about him that pulls others towards him. Many people liked him, and he knew it." Seeing the look on Sakura's face, she quickly added, "But I don't mean that he was conceited or vain. It was just that he knew he could get people to like him—and he flirted. A lot. I approached him a couple times but we never really resolved the problem. That's what ended the first relationship. The second relationship was when he wanted two girlfriends. Which reminds me—he fell in love very easily, but I was always number one in his heart. It wasn't because he told me—it was because I knew it myself. The third relationship—I don't know why I did end it, but I did, and I always regretted that. He left, and I never saw him again. It broke my heart, and I haven't really loved since." Toki sighed and looked down at her fingers. "There just wasn't anyone else like him."

"Oh…I'm sorry." Sakura said, looking away uncomfortably.

"I just…I just don't want you to end up like me. You should be able to love and love and love, and even if your heart gets broken, you should still love. Don't let this guy drag you down. It's beyond a normal crush, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." Sakura furrowed her brow, staring at her bedspread. "I'm sorry Toki, but—"

"You need to be alone for a bit?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. Just lie down for a while, okay?"

"Sure." The moment Sakura was sure Toki had left and was safely out of earshot, she broke down and cried. But this time, it wasn't just crying because something didn't go her way—they were heart-wrenching, nerve-wracking sobs, and she just couldn't control them. She went on like this for the best of ten minutes, and when she regained control, she smoothed out the now rumpled sheets and silently sat in the middle of her bed, thinking. And when she came out of her room an hour later, she knew exactly what she was going to do, and how she was going to do it. It would cost her life, but she had already made up her mind—there was no going back.

"She's just a friend." Sasuke said, frowning. "Don't you think you're getting too worked up about this, Kira?"

"Girls get worked up. Deal with it." Kira snapped, straightening out her room. Because of the previous event, her things had ended up on the floor, and she was putting everything back into place as best as she could. Suddenly, she looked up at him, eyes blazing passionately beneath her long black eyelashes. "Besides, you're my boyfriend. I don't want anyone else to have you. You're mine."

Sasuke was taken aback by her bluntness and possessiveness, but he knew he should have expected it. Even when they were younger, anything that belonged to Kira she treasured zealously and would flare up if anyone took more than a passing interest at them. She once had a dog, and would only allow even her closest friends only a pat or two before she pulled them away. Strangers couldn't even look at the dog without getting accused by the owner for leering at it. Kira had doted on the dog until he died of old age, and even then had torn up her floorboards and dug a grave for him dozens of feet below her bed. It was hard to break free from her without getting hurt.

"Kira…listen." Sasuke began uncomfortably, shifting from one foot to another. "I don't think we should be together like this."

"What, aren't you happy to see me?"

"No, no I am! Really, I am. It's just that I've never been in a relationship before and I haven't ever really thought about being in one." That was a pretty good reason, Sasuke thought; it would be hard to fight that one.

But Kira dismissed the thought like swatting a fly. "That was only because I left, but now I'm back."

"But there's such a large age difference, Kira, and you're older than me. Don't you think it would be weird like that? You dating a younger guy?" Sasuke was getting desperate.

"Of course not! You're so old-fashioned. And besides, that was what I was trying to tell you." Kira looked Sasuke in the eye. "The guy who writes the birth charts screwed up. He mixed up some dates when he transferred his personal records to the city records. I'm the younger one, Sasuke, and we're less than a year apart."

"That's not possible!" Sasuke exclaimed, torn between relief and horror. "How could that happen? Akiru-san was a very careful man."

"He's an old man, Sasuke." Kira scowled, righting a vase on a small night table. "It was late at night, and with his deteriorating vision, it's easy to believe he made some mistakes. And besides, the city records always come out a year or two late, so things like that could happen."

"But even so, how would you find out about this? Akiru-san was under oath never to reveal his personal records to anyone."

"He went out one day. I just went in and looked. I always had a feeling that I wasn't that old." Kira smiled smugly.

"That's illegal!" Sasuke cried, outraged. "You broke a village rule!"

"And no one but you and I know, so shut it!" growled Kira viciously, stabbing a finger towards him. "Face it, Sasuke, you've run out of reasons, and I don't care what other crap you make up, because I'm your girlfriend and you're going to like it!"

** Ooh isn't Kira going from perfect girl to drama queen? She's a regular spoiled girl, isn't she? Well no, she just has an obsessive complex! Oh, and even though I don't own any Naruto characters, I DO own Kira, Ikimono, and Toki (and a couple of non-prominent characters I included)! They are my characters and mine only! Do not steal! Enjoy this chapter; it's the shortest time I've written a four page chapter since ever! Have fun! **


	12. The Gift

**Chapter Twelve: The Gift **

"Sakura! Sakura, where are you going?" Toki cried, spotting her from behind another hut. "Sakura!"

She turned around, a strange, determined expression on her face. "Oh, sorry. I didn't hear you."

Toki ignored her apology. "What's wrong? Where are you going?"

"I need to go."

"You still haven't answered my first question! Sakura, what's wrong. You look so…you look like you've aged overnight."

True enough, there was an edge to Sakura's normally vulnerable eyes, and though there weren't any wrinkles on her young face, her mouth was set thin and straight. "I feel older," she confessed, "But only because I know I can't stay any longer."

"What do you mean? I'd be glad to let you stay…"

"It's not that! I know you'd let me stay, and I'd really love to, but please, don't make me stay, I'm already killing myself as it is." There was a desperate strain in her voice, and her eyes were sorrowful and pleading.

"But Sakura I—" Toki was worried, curious, and felt strangely like an older sister or a best friend, even though the two of them had only known each other for about two or three days.

"Toki, please!" Sakura's voice, so close to cracking, broke Toki's heart. "Don't make it harder for me."

Toki just stood there, staring at the ground, and presently Sakura realized that she was crying. "Oh, Toki—"

"What will you do, Sakura?"

"I—oh, I—uh, I just have to go find my friends…"

But the older girl knew what she was planning the second she looked away. "Be careful, Sakura." She said softly, wiping away her tears. "You're a good girl, and I don't want you to get hurt. But…I know I can't stop you. You've already made your decision, right?"

Sakura nodded numbly, and she couldn't bear looking at Toki, who was obviously grief-stricken. "Yes, I have."

Toki grasped Sakura by the shoulders, eyes blazing with an unknown emotion. "Good luck Sakura. You're a brave girl. If only I had half the courage you did now back then." Her eyes brimmed over again. "I hope you find peace."

Sakura couldn't take it. "Thank you, Toki." She sobbed, and both girls collapsed in each other's arms, crying their hearts out. Finally, Sakura pulled away, sniffling. "Thank you, so much, for your guidance, for being there. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you more—oh, but before you go, I have something to give you."

"Oh, no, you really don't have to—"

"Yes, I know that, but I want to." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pendant. It was exquisite and delicately made, hung on a thin silver chain. The base of the pendant was in the shape of a dragon, also made of silver, with rubies for eyes and ivory teeth, diamond studded claws. It was flat, but the claws jutted out, holding a glass-like pearl between them. But when the pendant itself touched Toki's bare skin, Sakura realized it wasn't a pearl at all, just a glass sphere—it was now glowing blue. Toki whispered an incantation over it, and the sphere turned a milky white again. "This is a magical item, passed down in my family, which is really saying something, since we live for so long…but anyway, it has two different side and three different settings. This side is the emotion, personal side." She turned it over. There, in silver again, was a goddess, with long hair flowing to match the shape of the dragon on the other side. Her eyes were opal, there were diamond chips woven into her hair, and her clothes sported topaz and other precious stones. It was a beautiful figure, and certainly worth a lot. She was also holding something in her hands, but it was a mirror. It was currently clear and was just like a normal mirror, but Sakura somehow knew it wasn't.

"You can speak to it, like this;" Toki whispered quietly to the goddess, but it was loud enough so Sakura could hear. "Goddess, show Sasuke Uchiha." Something like mist crept over the surface of the mirror, but just as suddenly, the mist cleared, and there was Sasuke; obviously in miniature, but it was him. "He's rather handsome, Sakura." Toki said, smiling. "You can make the picture bigger, too…Goddess, project into air." The picture shook for a moment, then slowly separated itself from the mirror, then hovered over the surface, and finally expanded and projected itself into air. Sakura could now clearly see Sasuke, and he was talking, frowning, and arguing. She had never seen him so worked up. She wondered what was the matter. "You can add sound, too. Goddess, turn the sound on. Louder. Louder."

"_Kira, how many times have I told you, we have to get going. We have to find Sakura."_ Sakura started. Sasuke's voice was so clear, so crisp, it was like he was right in front of her. But who was Kira? Whoever it was, she must have said something, because Sasuke's face clouded over. _"I'm not a possession." _He said quietly, eyes burning. _"You can't make me someone that you can just boss around. And if you won't go, I'll go myself."_

Toki said softly, "Goddess, enough." The picture vanished, and Sakura realized that she had been inching forward, almost close enough, and wished she could have gone through and touched him again.

"You know, that picture can become a portal. Just tell the goddess what you want, and she'll do the best for you. There is, however, one more setting…"

Toki traced her index finger slightly around the outline of the mirror, saying softly, "Goddess, reveal your sister." The silver suddenly darkened, blackening, not rusting, just transforming. It was now made of smooth black obsidian, but the edges were not sharp, but were blunted, and the eyes were no longer made of opal, but were made of some bright yellow stone tinted with strains of red, and the expression on the goddess's face had changed. It was now almost evil, smirking, and woven in her hair were blood-red stones, and her robes seemed windswept and the lines were highlighted with silver and gold. In between her hands she held a wooden staff, twisted and old, and at the top was a piece of bright, clear crystal. It was encased in more twisted wood, and seemed very formidable.

"You see, this goddess is very good at defense and offense. For example…" Toki once again held it up to her lips and whispered softly, "Goddess, I need secrecy…I need invisibility." Toki disappeared.

"Toki!" Sakura cried, looking all about her.

"Sakura!" Toki's voice came from the spot she had disappeared from. "I haven't moved, I'm still right here. Goddess, enough." Toki reappeared, smiling broadly. "You can make your voice and any sounds you make undetectable to others. I just chose not to, since I didn't want to scare you."

"It works on people, right?"

"No, it works on any living thing. Keep that in mind, since there could be motion-detectors or trip wires, and you will have no effect on those whatsoever."

"So this necklace is like being invincible?"

"Yes. I'm only giving this to you because I trust you." Toki examined her carefully. "Goddess, turn on warning system." The staff's crystal glowed bright red, then returned to its usual shade. "Whenever a threatening force comes within a ten mile's radius of you, it will glow bright red, and you will feel it beating on your chest like a heartbeat. The fastest the heartbeat is where you are facing, that is where your enemy is. It doesn't matter which setting you're on; it will change of its own accord."

"But I'll be traveling, Toki. Won't it break?"

In answer, Toki raised an eyebrow and dropped it. Horrified, Sakura watched it fall, but as it came close to the hard stone ground, the air around it shimmered, and it hovered slightly above the ground before lowering itself gently on it. "This is a very magical item, Sakura, not even death can destroy it. In fact, in death is when it's most useful." Toki winked. "I can't tell you what it is, since if I tell the secret to an outsider, I will die immediately. And even though I love you, I don't think my time has come yet."

"Oh, no, of course not!"

"But for your own sake, I do hope you find it out." Toki frowned for a moment, then her mood lightened considerably. "You've got this all figured out, haven't you?"

"Not quite. I think I'll play with it for a while before I go." She said, then after a moment's pause, she threw herself at Toki and gave her a bone-crushing hug. She let go just as quickly and sniffed. "I'll miss you so much, Toki. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift. I'll miss you terribly."

Toki sniffled. "Me too, Sakura. Oh! By the way, you can make it into a bracelet or ring if you like—for traveling purposes. You can tell the goddess to transform it and when you want, you can switch the sides. Look…"

In a matter of seconds, the pendant was a ring, and it fit snugly on Sakura's finger. "It won't fall off, don't worry. You're its new owner, and it wouldn't come off unless you really needed it to. Good luck Sakura." She said, and smiled tearfully.

The girls shared one last embrace, and then Sakura set off, once more towards Hell, this time much better prepared than when she had gone in. She turned one last time towards her friend, and found that she had transformed into an old lady again. She smiled and blew a kiss, turned back around, and this time, she didn't even spare a second glance.

"What?" Sasuke was horrified. He knew she was obsessive, but this was a whole new level. "You can't force me to do anything!"

"Yes, I can. If you ever want to see your precious Sakura again, you're going to do anything I say." Kira's eyes flashed defiantly, her voice as sharp as a knife.

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke said, suddenly wary.

Kira smirked. "Exactly what it sounds like, sweetie. Iki-chan here knows exactly how to get to Itachi's lair and how exactly to get in." Kira narrowed her eyes. "And I'm not going to tell you unless you cooperate with me. You're my boyfriend, got that?"

"No, Kira. I don't care what you do or say, and I really don't care where you go, as long as you're not in my way. I don't know you anymore, Kira. What have you become?"

"Time away from you has changed me, Sasuke." She breathed, eyes glazed with pain. "I need you with me. And I'm certainly not going to lose you to some pink-haired bubble."

"Kira—" he sighed, raking his hand through his hair, "this is all a big misunderstanding…I'm not saving her because I love her. I'm saving her because I promised."

"Who cares about promises, Sasu-kun? We're together now, and that's all that matters, right?" Kira smiled dreamily. "We're together, Sasuke. Let's have some tea…"

Sasuke frowned perplexedly. "Kira, how many times have I told you, we have to get going. We have to find Sakura."

Kira reacted furiously. "No! You won't dare go, you're mine, Sasuke, only mine, and she can't have you! You need me to go with you! And I won't go!"

Sasuke was at his wit's end. He had simply run out of patience. He didn't want to waste his breath shouting at her, so he spoke softly, with the same effect. He could feel himself frowning, anger building up inside him. "I'm not a possession. You can't make me someone you can just boss around. And if you won't go, I'll go myself."

Sensing how serious he was, her eyes widened. "You're serious."

"As I'll ever be." Sasuke somehow materialized his bag from somewhere. Last night, he had packed his things. He had already known who she was then, and he knew he would have to leave. She would never let him go. Sasuke always planned ahead. It was simply something he always did. He slung his pack over his shoulder. "I'm leaving, Kira. You can come if you like. I'd be glad to have your help. But if you're not coming, I'm still leaving. Whether or not you come won't really affect me. And unless you come, this is goodbye, Kira." He turned, and leaving a shocked, raven-haired girl behind him, he left.

"Move faster, baka!" scowled Shikamaru, glancing back at Naruto. "Stop flirting with Hinata. You're going to infect her with your idiocy."

"Hey, Shikamaru, look who's talking. You're not that far away from Tenten either." Naruto hissed, speeding up. Hinata colored, and half-smiled.

"Yeah, well moving away is too much work. In fact, this mission is too much work. Why am I here?"

"Because the Hokage made you." Naruto said smugly. "And I told her to…"

"Oh, shut up, you two." Kiba growled, his dog following suit. "We're almost there, and you don't want to be discovered now. Especially because we have so many people…"

"That's okay! The good guys will always prevail!" Rock Lee grinned, winking.

"That's my boy!" exclaimed Might Guy, tears of joy coming to his eyes.

Kakashi and Jiraiya exchanged exasperated looks. Was that Might Guy ever going to get it? His antics always creeped people out.

"At either rate, we're almost there." Temari said. "We should split up and search the area." _Anything to get away from that baka, lazy, and two creeps, she thought._

"That's actually a good idea, girl in the fishnet top." Sai mused, eyes fixed on her. "I didn't think that girls with big boobs actually had brains…" Jiraiya couldn't help but stare at Temari the moment Sai finished his thought.

For a moment, there was silence all around. A second later, Sai and Jiraiya found themselves stuck to a tree by the force of the wind from her fan.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU ---ING BASTARD? I'LL TEACH YOU TO SAY THAT ---- ABOUT ME! YOU LITTLE ----ING PIECE OF ----! AND YOU, YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING US, NOT STARING AT MY BOOBS! YOU ---TY LITTLE ----!"

"Temari, shut up." Kankuro hissed angrily, eyes darting towards bushes and trees. "Do you want to blow our cover?"

"No, Kankuro." Gaara whispered, passion and longing in his eyes. "I haven't seen any bloodlust in months, almost a year…let them fight…I want to see blood…"

Shikamaru groaned inwardly. That baka! If Naruto hadn't assembled such a diverse and large group, none of this would be happening! Now he was stuck being the leader, along with a baka, an indifferent Jounin, a perverted Senin, an equally perverted, if not more, artist, a now-barking dog, his owner not much different, a quiet guy with bugs buzzing around his head, a happy-go-lucky hippy, a freaky guy in a jumpsuit, a bloodthirsty sand demon, a majorly pissed off girl with a huge fan, two girls sighing in the background, and a puppeteer who obviously had no control over any of his siblings. Shikamaru rubbed his head. Such work!

** Hello everyone! Yes, there is quite a bit of cursing in this chapter, all due to a couple of frayed nerves and a lot of tension from the characters. And, anyway, just to tell you, the end of this fanfiction is coming, slowly but surely, and I am not completely sure whether or not I should continue. I have work to do, and other stuff. If any of you have ideas for other stories that you'd like me to write, I'd be glad to do it so that when the last chapter of Sacrifice of a Lifetime comes out, I can also include the first chapter of whatever other story I'm writing. I've already had one person email me with suggestions and comments. I really appreciate that, and urge everyone to make full use of my email address; or if email is too slow for you, I am now also releasing my aim screen name; Chaocat13. Feel free to contact me at either one, although I would like you to please not spam them. . " Anyway, thanks to sakuraroxs from for some great suggestions! Sorry I couldn't include them in this chapter, this was written before you emailed me. So, thank you all once again for sticking by me this long, and I hope to hear from you! Bye for now, Cat. **


	13. Desperation

**Chapter Thirteen: Desperation **

Sasuke had barely been gone for ten minutes before Kira came running after him. She was out of breath, and she had brought a bag with her.

"Sasu—Sasuke, wait up!" she called, still a few feet behind him.

"No. I told you, I'm not going to stay. I'm going to go, and you don't have to follow me."

"Well yes, I know, I just…Sasuke, just wait, please?" Kira was pleading, and however strong his resolve was, he couldn't help but slow down.

"What do you want?" His voice was gruff, and impatient, and Kira flinched.

"What, do you hate me now?" she said, scowling, but he could see the hurt in her eyes.

"No, I don't hate you, I just don't want to waste anymore time. Sakura could be dead for all I know…"

"Yeah, well that's a better fate than being tortured—like me! You're hurting me so much, Sasuke-kun…" Kira started to play on his fears and guilt, pouting miserably, clutching her heart.

"Stop that!" he snapped, and continued walking down the road.

"She's over in that direction, Sasuke dearest." Kira smirked, pointing in the opposite direction. "She's heading for Itachi."

He rounded on her, his mask slipping with fury. "What—what are you talking about? How would you know where she is?"

She smiled an evil little smile and twirled something around in her fingers. "Oh, I like to say I have some contacts."

Sasuke bristled. "What did you do now?"

"Oh, nothing really." She said breezily, strutting around in circles, whirling a baton-like item in her hand. "Just…they give me information, those kinds of things." She narrowed her eyes. "They follow my orders. And last time I checked, I saved your little girlfriend's life."

"She's not my—" Sasuke growled, hands clenched into fists.

"Yeah, okay, I don't care anymore." She waved a hand vaguely in his direction. "Here's the thing. I can either kill her, or save her, or do whatever the hell I want to do with her. I've been told she's weak. So okay, how about I spare her from living out the rest of her miserable life? Let's say I want to kill her?"

He took an involuntary step forward. "No. You wouldn't."

Her eyes were drawn into slits. "And what if I did?" Her voice was soft, dangerous, and she knew damn well she was the one currently in control.

"If you did…then I would cut all ties from you."

"And if I chose to pursue you?"

"Well then I'd fight you to the death." His voice was cold. "Don't look at me like that, Kira, you know it's true. I know where my loyalties lie. It's time you learned yours. I never break a promise, Kira."

She looked at the ground. "Don't talk down to me." She said stiffly, playing with her hands nervously. "I hate it when you do that"

"No, Kira, I'm not talking down to you. I'm talking to you like I talk to normal, intelligent human beings. You're no different. I think it's time you looked at the real world." His voice was soft, gentle. "Just open your eyes, Kira, and take a look. Sometimes you can't always be in control." He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek. She was crying silently, and her glazed eyes were pained and hurt. He leaned down. "Times like this." He kissed her gently, and in a flash, he was gone.

Kira stood there silently, as still as a statue. She turned around and walked the other way, a slight, mournful smile playing on her face. Her? Give up? No way. Slowly, she unwrapped her hand. The thing she'd kept in her hand was a container for a transmitter and its locator. The transmitter was gone. The locator was beeping. Yeah. She'd never give up. Ever. And in the end, she was going to win. She knew it.

Someone was following her. No, she reflected, tilting her head slightly, some _people _were. Not that it was uncommon, anyway. People still hunted in this forest. But since when did they prey on people? No…it must be ninjas.

Sakura scowled. So this is what came out of being alone—arguing with yourself. She looked around quickly, and disappeared. She'd programmed the ring to answer to her thoughts. Pretty smart, right? However, she was only invisible, not invincible, so she still had to watch out. She could hear agitated stirring behind her. She turned around quickly and hopped onto a branch, so her footsteps couldn't be followed. Who were the people following her? Presently, they came into view. There were three or four people, with no large or visible weapons. They seemed so familiar…but with no headband to distinguish what village they were from, and with black clothing that covered everything around them, it was hard to tell. Even their voices were muffled and unrecognizable under their masks.

"Where'd she go?" The tallest one asked, looking around, confused. It was a male.

"I don't know. She was just here." It was a girl this time, and she seemed really worried. Her voice was quiet and barely audible. "She couldn't have just disappeared."

"Hmm." A boy. He was crouching down, staring at Sakura's footprints. "I guess you're right. But it makes no sense. Sakura doesn't know any jutsus like that. I don't think she would have learned that much in so little time. Not for her, anyway."

Sakura bristled, both in fear and annoyance. She was perfectly capable of learning new jutsus, but she was frightened to hear that they knew so much about her.

"Argh, how could we lose her so quickly! Just like that, the moment we find her, she's gone!" There was another girl, annoyed and fiery. She was agitated about something and kept reaching to her back, but, feeling nothing there, quickly withdrew her hand and looked around her carefully. "Why didn't we bring that long haired brat? He has special eyes." She looked sharply at the other girl. "Oh, I'm sorry, I know you do too, but I just—never mind." She snapped and started pacing.

"He's coming soon." The other girl said, shyly. "He promised that the moment he could, he'd come."

The taller boy danced around in the leaves. "Oh, and wouldn't you like that, fan girl?"

"Alright you, stop causing commotion. We're supposed to be undetectable, not argument central." The other boy (supposedly the leader) barked. "Don't say anything that'll give us away, you moron. What if other people are listening?"

"Aw c'mon, fan girl won't give anything away. She really is a fan, you see, get the joke, because she's in love with—" He never got to finish the sentence, because the more hyperactive girl had him pinned to a tree. He yelped in surprise and tried to fight her off. "Ack, get off me, you little bitch—"

"WHO YOU CALLING A BITCH, YOU RETARD! YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART BUT I DON'T HAVE AN IDEA WHY A COWARDLY FOX LIKE YOU IS EVEN ON THE TEAM! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOUR SHITTY POWERS—"

"Wait no! Stop! Stop!" The strangled boy motioned for silence. The girl fumed but obeyed. The boy tilted his head and listened. They all followed suit. Suddenly, they all froze. A moment later, they scattered, and the small clearing they'd created was empty. Seconds later, Sakura realized why. Another force was about to enter the clearing. Her ring was pulsing desperately against her finger along with her racing heart, and she resisted the urge to just run. A split second later, a blue skinned being swaggered into view. Sakura's eyes widened in horror. _Kisame_.

Temari leaned against a tree trunk, gasping for breath. "My god, Naruto, how—how'd you sense him from—from so—so far away?"

Naruto scowled. He, too, was having a hard time breathing—mostly because he was being strangled mere moments before. "It's just a perk that comes with being the Nine Tailed Fox. It's nothing, really. But if you hadn't shut your mouth, then we'd all be dead."

Shikamaru ripped off his mask. "Who was that? Who'd we hear?"

Naruto shook his head hesitantly. "No, I didn't hear him, I smelled him, more than anything. And he's probably the only person that smells like dead fish. It was Kisame, I'm sure."

Hinata winced. "Oh…" Naruto hadn't had a very good experience with Kisame the last time they'd met.

Naruto hadn't heard her. He ran a hand through his blond hair, worried. His black bandanna was discarded onto the ground. "But…something was wrong. Something wasn't right."

Temari bit back a sarcastic retort. She hadn't seen Naruto this serious since…well, since a while back. "What was wrong?"

He shook his head. "That's just the thing. I don't know. He smelled…dead."

"But he came after us." Hinata said, gasping, looking terrified. "Even zombies and the undead can't go that fast. He was too fast."

Shikamaru frowned. "Are you sure it was Kisame?"

"Yeah, I'm positive." The blond boy held his head in his hands, looking distressed. "He's more powerful than ever, but he smelled so _weak_. He was so confident, and he…I don't know, he just wanted blood. It was so strange. I could sense his emotions from that far away." He looked up. "I still can. He's not very close or anything, in fact, I think we've got maybe ten or twenty miles on him, but I can still sense him. What's wrong with me?"

No one said anything. They didn't have a good reason for him, and if they did, it was sure to horrify him. Shikamaru scratched at his arm absentmindedly. He knew what it was, and it would be a nasty-sounding remark, and sure to frighten everyone else, but he thought it'd be better if they knew.

"Guys…" He stood lazily and stretched his arms. "I think I know what's wrong."

Everyone's ears perked up. Naruto jumped to his feet. "What is it?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way and try and kill me, but…" He closed one eye sleepily. "I think it's because Kisame's changed. He's a beast now too."

Moments later, there was an explosion of cursing and screaming, though it was quickly subdued a second later. Miles away, a blue ninja looked up, and a pink haired girl sat shivering with fear in a tree.

** Hey there everyone, it's Cat again! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I plan to end the story in three more chapters or less. I've certainly had fun writing this story, and I really, really hope all my readers will be around to read my next one. Bye bye till laterz, Cat 3 **


	14. Recalled to Life

**Chapter Fourteen: Recalled to Life **

Sasuke was starting to wear out. He would've thought it was impossible, but after traveling for tens of miles on end, his legs began to ache. His muscles begged him to stop, but he knew that if he did, he would just be sorer and he would have less of a chance of finding Sakura in time. But three miles later, he gave in and slowed down, finally coming to a stop outside a small village. As he walked through the streets, his stomach growled uncomfortably and he sighed, heading for a nearby ramen shop. He ducked his head under the cloth flaps and entered, nodding respectfully to the owner. He was a large, burly man, not fat, but fit, with friendly brown eyes and calloused hands.

"Hello there, stranger, what can I do for you?" The man said, smiling.

"Just a bowl of ramen with vegetables and meat, please." Sasuke said wearily, sitting down on a stool.

"Sure thing." The man jerked his head at a young girl in the doorway behind the counter and she hurried off to alert the cook. The man settled down on one elbow and looked at Sasuke curiously. "Well, young man, you look like you've had some rough travel."

He tensed warily. "Yeah, I've been on the road for a bit." He shifted uneasily on his chair, checking for potential threats out of the corners of his eyes. "How much will the ramen be?"

The man grinned. "It's on the house, boy." He leaned in closer and winked. "Looks like you've got a broken heart and a black soul." He smiled sadly, almost wistfully. "I'll let you go easy."

Sasuke blinked, surprised. "Oh, no, I can't let you do that…"

The man laughed gaily, eyes twinkling. "Oh, the regular gentleman, eh? All right, boy, as you say. What's your name?"

He contemplated whether or not to tell the truth, but, somehow, Sasuke felt strangely at ease with this man. Maybe it was because he was older, because he was around the age his father should have been, maybe not, but whatever it was, something spurred him to say, "Sasuke Uchiha."

The man raised his eyebrows. "Well! A Uchiha." He held out his large, tanned hand. "Tohru Kaneeda, at your service." He smiled at Sasuke's bemused expression. "Oh, yes, I fit my name quite well. Haha…well, then, Sasuke, tell me a story in exchange for a bowl of ramen. It's not every day a celebrity waltzes into my shop. In fact, business has been a bit slow lately…" He frowned and stroked his chin worriedly. "To think of it, perhaps something's gone wrong somewhere. People have been leaving left and right in this place. Seem to think a war's starting! A war!" He shook his head. "Well. Wouldn't you know it! A little war, right here, wouldn't that be something? So tell me a story, Sasuke, my boy, while we wait for the ramen. I can promise you it'd be worth it." He beamed proudly. "My wife cooks. She's the best cook around! This shop is all family run. Tell me a story, my boy."

Once again, Sasuke found himself spilling out the reason he was here, and answering the man's questions, and for once, he felt like he was actually at home.

Maybe he won't hear me, Sakura thought fervently, not daring to breathe, maybe he won't sense me here…

Kisame sniffed around the trees, his gills opening and closing like a shark's when closing in on prey. He was directly under her tree, but the wind was blowing away from her and he couldn't smell her yet. But sooner or later, the wind would change, and her scent would be right in his face. A sudden thought struck Sakura like a speeding bullet. There was a bottle in her purse…the scent ridding spray! If only she could reach it…she moved her hand millimeters to the right, to where her bag was. The sun glinted off her ring, and a better thought occurred to her. The ring! She had commanded it to do as her thoughts said. This had better work, she thought angrily, and in her mind she said; _Goddess, let me make no sound._ She didn't feel any strange sensation—in fact, she didn't feel any different at all! But…she needed to do something…she took a risk and used her fist to bang on the tree. There was no reaction at all from Kisame. Sighing in relief, she grabbed her spray bottle and sprayed it in generous portions all over her. She was safe! But she caught her breath again when Kisame suddenly turned his head her way. He didn't look up, but Sakura knew she had to do _something_. She was a sitting duck here. Counting to three, she bolted out of the tree, jumping to another one behind him. He didn't notice anything, and she almost thought she was safe—almost. In her haste, she hadn't been careful, and a branch broke under her foot, and though it made no sound, it fell—right onto Kisame's head!

He whirled around and looked up, gray lips pulled back in a feral snarl. "You!" He caught sight of her fleeing pink form, heading towards the north, and he growled and pursued her angrily.

Sakura was terrified. She thought she'd killed him once, but here he was again! He couldn't possibly have survived it. And even if he did, he'd have been at least scarred or hurt. This Kisame was as flawless as a spirit's blade, and unmarked like a newborn baby. It was impossible! How could she possibly fight against something that never died, and hope to win? The ring around her finger had a pulse so fast it was like a second heart. Her real heart was almost beating as quick the ring, and her pulse was racing so that she felt dizzy.

"I see you!" He hissed behind her, and, with a fleeting glance behind her, she realized he was almost catching up, snapping at her heels like an irritated guard dog. Desperately, she willed her ring to make her invisible. And so she was, and for a moment, Kisame slowed in confusion. But somehow, impossibly, he was still following her, even with her turning off in another direction. She was making no sound! What was going on?

And then, as she rounded a corner, she glimpsed down, and, horrified, saw her own silhouette, clear as day, on the ground. He must have gotten smarter in his resurrection, and his eyesight keener. He was following her shadow!

She willed her shadow to disappear, but somehow, it couldn't. Cursing in her head, she turned off back into the forest. It was dark there, and the shadows would not show on the ground. But there, Kisame had an advantage. His eyes were made for seeing in the dark. Sakura would be like a fish out of water in there. She willed herself night vision and plunged into the darkness. She heard Kisame's howl of fury behind her, and his claws cut in the air behind her, but he had missed her.

"I'll get you, you bitch!" He screamed, his voice echoing in the hollow trees. "I'll find a way, and I'll KILL you!"

Her breath choked in her throat, and she kept on going, but Kisame was still tailing her. Was it because of the leaves? Was she making the leaves fall? She fumbled at her belt and pulled out a kunai. She threw it in front of her with all the force she could manage, then stopped abruptly and hid behind a tree. Satisfied, she watched Kisame follow the kunai into the dark thickness. She gasped, trying to catch her breath, and was careful not to disturb any more leaves or thin branches. She leaned her weary head against the tree trunk, listening carefully for any sign that Kisame was back. There was no sign, at least for the time being, and she closed her eyes, and before she could help it, the exhaustion and excitement of the past few days caught up with her, and she dozed off.

"A beast now _too_?" Naruto was beside himself in fury. "Oh, sure, I wouldn't mind that he's a beast. But 'too'? I'm not a beast! I—I just happen to have one inside me!" He huffed angrily, crossing his arms.

Shikamaru winced and stuck his pinky in his ear. "Any louder and I'll go deaf, baka." He said indifferently, and Naruto looked like he wanted to strange him, but Hinata cut him off.

"Uhm, Naruto-kun…" She whispered tentatively, playing nervously with her fingers, "Please don't yell…we're going to be discovered. And…you're scaring me…" She averted her eyes and turned bright pink. Normally, when he was in this state, Naruto would have told her off, but the blatant fear in her voice triggered something in his brain, and his face went from lobster red to a slight pink.

"Sorry, Hinata." He mumbled, scratching his bright blond hair. "It's just…a beast…how could that have happened? Usually it's only in my…my situation." He scowled. "And Shikamaru, you could've told me in better words. I mean, honestly. 'Too'? How could I NOT respond to that?"

"Sorry, Naruto. There was no other way to say it." Shikamaru said irritably. "Besides, it was a tense situation. It was the easiest way to get you people to understand."

Temari paced, her hand still groping the air at her back where her fan should have been. "We should have brought our weapons. Maybe we could've taken him."

Naruto shook his head fervently. "No! We would've died, for sure. We weren't prepared, and besides, there was something really wrong. I don't know what it was, but he was just so much more dangerous than usual."

"Well then, what could we have done?" Temari fumed, stopping and glaring at Naruto. He scowled back at her, but said nothing, choosing instead to stare vacantly at the grass, his brow slightly creased.

"There is something we could have done." Shikamaru said, sitting back down.

"Yeah, and what was that?" She said, looking at him curiously.

"Run. And we did it, so we're fine." He leaned back against the tree trunk. "We weren't expecting him, after all."

Hinata spoke up, playing with a blade of grass. "But…but then, why was he there?"

"I don't know." Temari resumed pacing. "I still don't think he could've heard us from that far away. We really weren't that loud." Shikamaru sweat-dropped in the background, but she ignored him. "He wouldn't have heard us from that far away."

"He didn't know we were coming." Shikamaru said, steepling his long, thin fingers. "It's impossible. Only the Hokage and Ino knew we were going. And even then, they didn't know where we were going to be. We didn't even know until we got a trail. Even then, it was hard."

"We even placed a memory charm on the people we interrogated." Temari plopped down on the ground by Shikamaru. "That's the thing I don't understand. We left no trail. We were completely clean."

"Maybe he was on a routine check up. Is it possible Itachi's hideout is near here?" Hinata offered, twisting and turning the grass in her hands.

Shikamaru shook his head, looking a bit doubtful. "No, I'm pretty sure it's more to the south. All of our sources pointed us in the same direction. We can check it out, but from that location to the hideout would be a good five hundred or so miles, maybe even a couple hundred acres. This can't be Itachi's territory. It's way too far to be routine."

"And there aren't any new enemies or anything." Temari added. "We've checked it all out."

"Then what could it be?" Hinata said, looking troubled. "What if he's hunting someone down?"

"And who could that possibly be? He's got no interest in individuals. And Kisame isn't strong enough to take on a skilled group. Even Kisame knows that." Shikamaru retorted, frowning.

"He sent Kisame only then. He couldn't be after Sasuke. Sasuke is too clever, too strong." Temari's eyes widened. "Oh, no…then that means…"

And it was Naruto, who hadn't spoken in a while, Naruto, who had been in pensive silence while the others brainstormed, Naruto, who was brave and daring and hadn't cried in years, Naruto, who now spoke softly, in a cracked voice, spoke the truth no one wanted to hear, "He's after Sakura."

She was sitting in her house; in a room in part of the restricted section she hadn't allowed Sasuke to go in, the part that seemed out of place in her old, rickety house. There were mirrors everywhere, and there were stacks and stacks of papers and charms and books and explosives and armor and scrolls and little handheld things and weapons—a criminal's dream arsenal. And in the middle of it all sat Kira, suiting herself up and preparing scrolls and bags and checking, every so often, a small, flashing tube-like thing on the floor. Suddenly, a handheld communicator clasped onto her belt started beeping. Startled, she dropped the kunai she had been holding, and fumbled at the catch at her waist.

"Yeah?" Even breathless her voice was demanding and annoyed. "What is it now?"

The voice on the other line was muffled and distant. "We've got a trace on the girl."

Kira's eyes sparkled maliciously. "Wonderful. Simply wonderful. I daresay that it was Kisame who did it?"

There was a slight pause. "Somewhat. Kisame died."

She froze. "He _what_?"

The person on the other line kept a tense silence. "Maybe Kabuto could explain it to you—hold on…"

Kira waited impatiently, tapping her foot, glaring at her reflection in a mirror. A moment later, a sleek, silky voice came on the line. "Hello there, Kira my dear."

She couldn't help smiling at the sound of his over eager voice. "Kabuto! How nice to hear from you."

He laughed breezily and she could almost see his grin. "As it is to hear from you, my dear, but I don't think this is a pleasure call, now, is it?"

"Straight to the point, aren't you? Would you mind clearing this up for me? I was told that Kisame died. That can't be true. Who killed him?"

"The bitch killed him, to be precise. But he's alive again, or at least, just barely."

"That pink haired joke killed HIM? No way." Her eyes were narrow slits in her pale face.

"It was a matter of luck and timing. Kisame was bloodthirsty and…reckless."

"Ah." She said. She'd seen him once, when he was like that. He was dangerous but vulnerable. Not a good state to be in.

"We've developed a new jutsu, and he was my test subject. Thankfully, it worked, and though there are some minor flaws, all can be fixed. For now, he is a beast, and a beast he shall stay, until his purpose is served and we can focus on him."

"Interesting. You must tell me this jutsu, Kabuto dearest."

"The next time I see you I will, Kira my love. Till then I'll keep you updated."

"Many thanks, Kabuto."

"Not a problem. I'm awaiting the day I can see you again."

"And I you."

"Bye."

"Bye."

The moment Kira was sure Kabuto had hung up and the communicator was muted, she made a face at her reflection in the mirror. She hurled a kunai at the mirror and watched her image shatter into a million pieces. That Kabuto was so trying! But at least he was useful. The moment his purpose was done, she would rid herself of him and find her true love, Sasuke. But then again, if there were any complications, Itachi wasn't such a bad catch either. She smirked malevolently. Oh, the wonders of being a beautiful girl that everyone wanted. She could get everything she wanted, and then some. Oh yes. What a wonderful thing it is.

** Ooh doesn't this chapter make Kira look like a bitch? ; Of course, I love Kira, but evil has its own benefits! Anyway, seems like there'll be a couple more chapters before the end. I'm having fun with this 3. Well, till later! 3 Cat **


	15. Dreaming

**Chapter Fifteen: Dreaming **

Such a strange feeling, talking to a man he barely knew, yet feeling like he could bet his life that he would stay loyal. Trust. That was the feeling that Sasuke now felt, sitting on a bar stool, across the counter from the ramen store owner, who nodded sympathetically now and then and smiled sometimes when Sasuke began to talk about Kira or Sakura. When Sasuke finished, the man leaned back and blew out a long breath of air.

"My, my, what a wonderful tale. Wonderful, wonderful, simply wonderful. But…you must understand it's outrageous."

Sasuke's eyebrows scrunched together in a frown. He didn't believe him? After all that, he didn't believe him?

The owner saw that look and quickly shook his head. "Oh, no, Sasuke, I believe you! It's the only thing I _can _believe anymore." He rocked back and forth on his heels, a browned hand stroking his chin. "I don't think you know the history of this town."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I don't. Why? Do I need to?"

"Well, not really, but—ah, here's your ramen!" The girl had come back and was balancing a steaming bowl of ramen between gloved hands. It smelled delicious and there were vegetables and meat piled on top of slippery, broth-drowned noodles. Sasuke could feel his saliva glands working up, and he felt almost ashamed.

"Sir, I really have to insist that I pay…" But the man cut him off, laughing.

"Call me Tohru! And, remember, you paid me in full! A marvelous story, rare and true. That's more than payment enough!" He winked and smiled, pushing the bowl of ramen towards Sasuke. "Enjoy and relax, my boy, while I tell you a story of my own."

"Thank you, sir—Tohru. Thank you very much." Giving in to his empty stomach and his nose, Sasuke broke the chopsticks apart and slurped up the noodles hungrily. It was a long time since he had real cooking.

Tohru breathed in deeply through his nose, wrinkling his forehead thoughtfully. "This village used to be a very prosperous, beautiful place. Children could walk through the streets without a fear, and people used to be the nicest and bravest you could ever meet. But then Itachi came, with his demon army."

Sasuke choked on his noodle, suddenly finding it hard to gasp for air. Tohru, alarmed, clapped him hard on the back, and when Sasuke could speak again, he gasped, "ITACHI? Itachi was HERE?" It hadn't occurred to him that his brother had spread his reign of terror for so far, and for so long. "Are his people still here?"

"No, thankfully. But when they came, they seized all of our property, and all of our money, and took some of our children as slaves. But they didn't take anything of mine." He said bitterly, gripping the stone counter so hard his knuckles turned white. "They liked my food. So I had to supply them with food every single day, for free, or they would kill my family. That part I wouldn't have minded so much. But I was the only one singled out to survive. I watched my neighbors murdered, my friends made into slaves, and there was nothing I could do about it. But then that got me thinking. What if I _could_ do something about it?"

Sasuke listened intently, trying hard not to make any loud noises with his noodles. It was interesting, hearing from a first person point of view. It had been years since he'd last heard such stories.

"So last year, my wife and I made some poison from the herbs in my garden, in the restricted section, and invited the entire force of invaders to come and eat. It was a holiday, not something strange, so they all came, suspecting nothing." The man smiled, shaking his head slowly. "The men were fools. They ate, and they died. The rest of the village joined me in pushing back any other invasions, and now we're free, though our numbers have decreased by much. Things won't ever be the same, but we're rebuilding, little by little." Then his face clouded. "But I didn't get the main person. I couldn't kill Itachi. He was called away on important business at the last minute, along with that walking fish of his. He got away."

"I'm glad you didn't kill him, Tohru." Sasuke said nonchalantly, tilting his bowl towards him to gather the soup. "He's mine."

It was a beautiful day, with clear blue skies and fluffy clouds, but the best part was that Sasuke was there with her. Everything was blurry, but in a nice way, like something out of a romantic drama. The sun was soft and bright, but it almost seemed possible to look at it without bursting into tears. There were cherry blossom floating around and around them, swirling around their intertwined hands, the warm wind blowing gently through their hair, both their eyes glazed over in emotion. There were birds chirping in the background, singing a lover's song, and butterflies fluttered here and there in pairs, stopping a few times at flowery, sweet-scented bushes by the flowing green grass. They were sitting on the ground, side-by-side, gazing into each other's eyes, limbs relaxed and happy, the world suddenly carefree. Sakura opened her mouth hesitantly to speak, and Sasuke smiled at her, giving her strength to go on.

"Sasuke…" Her voice was more beautiful than she had remembered or realized. "I…I love you…" She blushed red, not knowing how to continue.

He placed a long, graceful finger on her lips. "I know. I know that."

The wind seemed to blow a little harder, and the air happened to cool down a little more, and the sun somehow gained a little edge. Sakura looked down at her feet. The grass was losing a little of its color. Or was it just her imagination? Was it her nervousness at her next few words that made everything a little harder, a little stranger?

"Sasuke…I need to know something." She looked up at him. He held her hand a little tighter, and she could clearly feel his pulse, hard and strong, against her skin. His eyes, so black and deep before, became a little grayer, a little more shallow.

"What is it?" His voice had lost some of its gentle, loving quality. It sounded worried, a little anxious, somehow distant and detached.

"I…" The butterflies quivered in the sudden, insistent wind, and flew away. The birds stopped singing and started up a quarrel suddenly, and as Sakura looked up, she realized horribly how dark it had become. The sun was white and sharp, and brought tears to her eyes. The clouds were darkening, moving swiftly across the sky like autumn leaves down a flooded river. She made to stand up, the grass suddenly cutting into her hands like little knives. But Sasuke reached out for her, stopping her.

"Tell me." His voice had a harsh quality, rough like a cheese grater, but quieter, like the north wind whistling through the hollows of trees.

"Do you…do you love me?" She burst out, her words stumbling over each other like little children in a play yard, hurried, rushed, and almost indistinguishable.

He frowned and looked at her. He seemed to be fading away slowly, right before her eyes. The cherry blossoms, just swirling dreamily around her before, now rushed at her like kunai, hitting her in the face, and one even cut a shallow gash on her cheek. She cried out in pain and reached to Sasuke, but he was disintegrating before her eyes. It made no sense, none at all, but she reached for him anyway. "I need to know, Sasuke, I need to know!" She cried, running to him, but she fell right through him, like a ghost, and watched, horrified, as he faded away. He looked at her, confused to the point of being comical, and opened his mouth…but it was too late. The wind blew him away, like the tiny leaves from the bushes, tearing them away from the branches like children from parents, like family from loved ones. It set up a terrible howl, anguished and grieving at the same time, and Sakura screamed for him, and tried to run after his remnants, a lock of blue-black hair swirling in the twisted gusts of merciless wind. And then she saw him again, high in the sky, wincing like a thousand hot knives were being driven into his body, convulsing in the sky as a million needles came out of nowhere, and he dropped, dropped, back down to where she was, and a hundred different things happened at that moment—Sasuke died with his eyes open, a cackling laughter ripped through the sky, Sakura reached for him, she awoke, and she almost fell out of her tree.

"Sasuke!" She screamed, her eyes wide open, tears already spilling over eyelids. "Oh, Sasuke…" There was a cut on her cheek, but it was from a falling, razor edged leaf, not from cherry blossoms. His pulse was just her ring. The sharp grass was just bark under her hands, the light summer breeze actually cold, unforgiving wind, and the light from the sun, peering harshly at her from in between leaves. But the pain, the heartbreak felt so real, and his touch…his touch was so real, his image, his eyes, his voice, his _smell_. It was all so real, like she had him again, with her. And then she lost him again. _Again_! She closed her eyes, unable to hold back the tears, and she cried and cried and cried, feeling her heart shatter, her resolve weaken, and for a moment, all she wanted was for it to end. "Oh, Sasuke. Why couldn't you tell me? Why can't you love me?" And in her heartbroken state, she didn't notice the small band of black ninja nearby, one of their members watching her with interest. But that wasn't right. They couldn't see her…could they?

"Hinata! Come on!" Shikamaru called, peering back lazily behind him. Hinata was standing still, staring at a tree. "We've got to hurry."

But she didn't budge, and Naruto, already annoyed, turned back towards her and tugged at her arm. "Hinata, come _on_, we've got to go! We have to find Sakura…"

"But…Naruto-kun, don't you see her? She's right there…" Hinata had a strange expression on her face, and her eyes were still slightly red from crying when she realized Itachi's intent. She and Sakura had never really been great friends, but she had always kind of looked up at and admired the other girl. The shock had hit her like a tidal wave, and she had doubled her attempts to try and find her, and had even had a slight nervous breakdown. "Look…" She pointed at a large tree a couple hundred feet away. She was using her special jutsu, and her eyes were strained, staring at that one tree in a peculiar way, as if not really believing her eyes.

Naruto looked in the direction her trembling finger was pointing towards, but saw nothing. "There's nothing there, Hinata. It's just a tree."

"I know, I mean _on_ the tree. Right there. Don't you see her? She's crying…" Her voice was distant and her brows brought together in a confused frown, as if she didn't quite understand something.

Her three teammates exchanged worried glances. Hinata hadn't exactly received the news well, but could it be that she had suffered a breakdown? Was she starting to hallucinate? Temari coughed lightly and cleared her throat. "Uhm, Hinata…there's nothing there. Really."

"Yes there is! You just don't see it because you don't have my eyes." She started to fret worriedly, wringing her hands in front of her. "But…Naruto…Sakura doesn't know how to make herself invisible, right? She doesn't know how to do that, right?"

No one said anything, but looked at Hinata blankly. She continued, regardless of their strange looks. "So then…so then how come you can't see her? Why is she invisible?"

"I don't…Hinata, are you sure you see her? Are you sure she's there?" Temari said softly, touching the younger girl's arm gently. "Are you positive?"

"Well…no, but can we check?" She saw the impatient look on Naruto's face and faltered a bit. "Please?"

Naruto conceded after receiving warning glares from Shikamaru and Temari, and sighed. "All right, Hinata, lead the way."

She took off silently towards whatever she was seeing, taking special care not to make much noise. When she was about ten feet away from her destination, she cried out, "Sakura! I knew it! It _was_ you!"

The others stopped behind her as she apparently hugged the air, but a moment later she was flung back and cried out, and Naruto caught her before she hit another tree. He snapped his head up alertly as he heard leaves rustle near his head, and when he looked up, something hard connected with his cheek. Shikamaru and Temari stared in confusion, then rushed to their aid. Seconds later, they too were hit by an invisible assailant, but Shikamaru was able to grab their arm, and Temari pounced on the person too, and grabbed a leg. Naruto recovered from his shock and grabbed the person too, but it was hard, since he or she was flailing his/her other limbs, making them hard to hold down. Suddenly, there was a sheen of black, suffocating smoke and they were all blasted backwards. There was a bout of cursing from under them, and they got a clear view of a pale, tear streaked Sakura, glaring at something in her hand. She looked at them wildly before dashing off into the forest, leaving nothing behind but a lock of hair, swirling around and around in the air. Naruto caught it wordlessly, fanning away smoke from his eyes, looking lost and desolate.

"That…that really was her, wasn't it?" His face was pale and sweaty, his bright yellow hair clinging to his forehead in thick, damp strands.

Shikamaru shook his head, looking confused. "That…but how could she…" For once, he seemed at a loss for words.

Temari ignored them both, looking around wildly. "Hinata!" She screamed, and suddenly, everyone realized what was wrong. Hinata still hadn't moved from where Naruto had set her down. Her eyes were closed and her face was pale, but everyone noticed the crimson blood leaking out of the corner of her mouth, and the tears down her cheeks. Temari shook her desperately, but she didn't wake. "Hinata! No! Wake up, wake up…please…"


	16. Hidden Spies

**Chapter Sixteen: Hidden Spies**

"You're saying WHAT?" Kira was beside herself in fury. She'd left her house for scarcely ten minutes, and now one of Kabuto's henchmen, the stupid one, the one who liked to look at her from behind corners and thought she didn't notice, and was now the reluctant bearer of bad news. "Kisame LOST her? How could he? He's a beast, remember, there's no way he could've…you know what, I'm losing brain cells talking with you, so put Kabuto on the line. No, I _don't_ care if he's busy or not. Put him on the line or next time I will personally see to it that you get both your ears cut off…no, not just the lobes! The entire ear! Now get him on this line this instant!" After tilting her head slightly to rest the phone on her shoulder, she let out a theatrical sigh, deep and heavy, like all skilled actresses should.

There was a slight scuffling sound on the other line, and some agitated cursing as well, but when Kabuto started to speak to her, his voice was smooth and unhurried, the epitome of a cool-headed leader. She almost laughed. Kabuto was anything but cool, and his act was easy to see through if you tried hard enough. "Kira, my dear! What a wonderful thing it is to hear your voice again, and so soon!"

She considered this a moment before answering, "Yes, it would be, if it was a happy circumstance to call on. It's hardly been three hours since I've talked to you last, and now I must wrangle the information from you? Truly despicable, Kabuto, you should know better than to play with me like that." She could barely keep the hate and anger out of her voice, but, luckily, he didn't sense those two emotions—only annoyance, since he was blinded so by love.

"I'm sorry, Kira." He said, plaintively, sounding almost like a captive pleading for his life. "I didn't mean to surprise you like this. None of us realized something like this could happen. All possible precautions were taken, but it seemed that luck was on her side this time. She learned a few new jutsu, it seems, and Kisame, in his beastly state, simply does not have enough chakra or brains to figure out how to counter them."

"Her? Learn new jutsu? I think not. Are you sure you're not just covering up for that beast? Or is he covering up for someone else?"

"I'm not covering up anything, Kira. This matter has gone out of my hands already, and there's nothing can do about it. Kisame got in touch with us a few minutes earlier, and told us he'd lost her. Needless to say, we were very angry with him, but there's nothing more we can do but wait. He has a keen sense of smell, and good hearing, and now that he's a beast, both senses should be amplified by at least fifty times as much."

"No, having a good sense of smell won't do any good." Kira said thoughtfully, trying to remember the qualities of the pink-haired girl she'd met a week or so ago. "She has this spray that eliminates her smell. I went through her bags when she wasn't looking, when she was watching my double fight alongside Sasuke. It took me a lot of energy to separate myself from Ikimono, even if it was only for five minutes, but I do think it was worth it. That bitch loves Sasuke, and that should be helpful. She packed light for the trip, but she brought quite a few weapons. I would've taken them from her, but I believed that you and Itachi would take care of it."

"I couldn't take anything—I needed her to trust me, then and there. I couldn't have done anything. But I did manage to plant a tracker on the lining of her bag, and I'm going to activate it soon."

"Why didn't you activate it earlier? It could have saved us a lot of trouble!"

"There was no need, Kira dearest. We had Kisame, and the tracker has a life span of only two hours; and hour and a half if there's a great distance. No, we needed to use everything possible first—then resort to emergencies."

"Well, all right…keep on that, and when you find her, torture her, beat her, show her no mercy. Carve that pretty little face until no sane man would want her. Shave her head bald, starve her till she's a stick, give her enough water to keep her alive, do what you like with her, and no matter, what, do _not_ let her get away. She's brought us enough trouble, so give her all the trouble she can stand. Don't kill her…no, don't give her that blessing." She narrowed her eyes and played with the ends of her long black hair. "I want her to suffer, both physically and psychologically, until she can't possibly be what her Sasuke-dearest desires. Oh no. No, no." She smiled, her eyes suddenly alive with a burning light. "Make her _pay_."

There was dead silence for a moment on the other line, but then it crackled to life and Kabuto's voice, sounding serious and grave, answered stonily, "It will be done, my love, it will be done."

And Kira, smiling, suddenly happy, deliriously happy, whispered her thanks to him, and did not notice the long haired boy with white eyes peering at her, horrified, from the bushes by the road, or the pale girl with black buns on either side of her head, clutching her kunai like she wanted to throw it at the girl on the road with all her might. But no one saw the black shadow squatting in the trees, watching all three of them, and writing something down.

Her heart felt like it was about to give up and burst out of her chest. First she was chased by Kisame, then miraculously eluded him, and just as she woke up from the most terrifying dream ever, a band of black ninja had appeared out of nowhere and one of them was heading towards her, and called her name and had thrown an arm around her, probably trying to capture her, like they could see her! But that was impossible, since she was invisible, and she had managed to throw the person off, but the rest of them threw themselves at her and held her down until she'd managed to ask the ring for a smoke bomb, but it seemed the ring had reached its limit for the past hour or so, because her invisibility failed to work, and she was visible again. The ring had become fiery hot, and she had taken it off and put it in her pocket. Maybe the ring had limits, too. She leaned her head against a tree trunk and looked warily around. Then she closed her eyes and focused all of her energy on her ears. She was positive she was far away from anyone, even Kisame, which was the only reason she had closed her eyes—otherwise, she would have asked the ring to grow her thirty more eyes, to better see her surroundings. But she trusted her ears better than her eyes, since hearing hardly bears illusions, while sight can trick the brain into believing almost anything. Suddenly, she perked up. There was a river near here!

She immediately got to her feet and rushed in the direction of running water. She stopped suddenly about a mile later. There it was! And a more beautiful sight Sakura had never seen. The water was crystal clear, with soft murmuring sounds and brightly colored fish weaving in between the rocks, and mosses and plants growing around it. She dipped her head low into the water, and was instantly refreshed as she took long gulps of the cool, refreshing water. As the ice cold water hit the bottom of her stomach, it grumbled angrily, as if being tricked that it was water, not food, and she realized suddenly how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten or drank for nearly two days, and it was only her fear and determination that had kept her going. Carefully, she fished out the ring from her pocket and winced when it burned her skin. She plunged the ring into the water and it cooled down considerably, until she felt it safe to put back on her finger. She asked for a large, impenetrable bubble, that people could not sense or feel anything inside it, or see the bubble itself, or suspect that there was anything there at all, except for herself. She also asked that anything inside the bubble be like a ghost, so everything foreign would pass through them. That way, Sakura could do whatever she liked, and there would be no one to disturb her.

That done, she waded into the river, and shivered when the water reached her thighs, and plunged her hand deep into its muddy banks, searching for shellfish or crabs or anything edible that she couldn't see. Presently, she pulled up some oysters, and dumped them in the sand inside her personal bubble. She broke off some dead tree branches, along with a few twigs and wood shavings, and started a small fire, warming herself beside it. She made a sort of stand over the fire, tall enough so it wouldn't burn, but short enough so that the fire could cook whatever stood on the stand. She looked for a large leaf, found it, and cupped it so that water could stay inside, like a pot. She carefully put that on the stand, and tried to fit the oysters inside so the water could boil and cook them. She failed twice and nearly put out the fire once, but, biting her lip and scrunching her brow, she finally succeeded and watched, satisfied, as the water started boiling. It was a trick her friend had taught her once, when they were camping out. If you take a leaf and put water in it, you can boil it like a pot, and the edges of the leaf will burn down and smoke, but it would only go down to water level, so everything would be all right. Granted, it would be easier with a _real_ pot, but she didn't want to exhaust the ring's power with such petty things.

Next, she climbed a few trees, looking for a branch with a fork in the middle, like a two-pronged spear, that she could use to catch fish. Naruto and Sasuke were skilled at catching fish with their hands, and she could do it with a partner, but she was utterly helpless in that field when alone. Presently, she found it, just in time to see the water boil, and added a few oysters, and went off to the river and stared at her glassy reflection before scowling and stripping down to her underwear. She was probably going to fall in the river for her efforts at catching fish, and she didn't want to get all wet. Night was falling, and soon it would be freezing cold. After maybe twenty unsuccessful attempts, she headed back to the riverbank and found her oysters almost completely cooked. Smiling, she dug through her bag and found some packages of salt and pepper she had nicked from the restaurant she had been to a while ago. She washed another large leaf, carved a large branch into chopsticks with her penknife, washed that too, and had an almost proper set of cutlery, with handmade chopsticks and a leaf for a plate. She found some wild garlic and parsley growing in the rushes, and after inspecting them for bugs or anything else unappetizing, washed them thoroughly and added them to the bubbling broth. While she waited for them to cook, she poured out the contents of her bag onto the ground. There were some feminine products there, and the usual junk, but to her surprise and delight, there were spices and packets of soy sauce and some herbs and sugar and salt and even some light snacks, probably left over from when she went over to Hinata's house to cook. She'd also brought some spare clothes, and some weapons, and thanked her lucky stars she was so disorganized and too lazy to pack and repack after every time she went out.

The oysters were done, smelling absolutely wonderful, and she could feel her mouth watering. She let them boil a little longer, just to be on the safe side (she didn't want to die from food poisoning after coming this far), and rummaged through the rest of the junk in her bag. And as she puzzled over a pair of furry pink things that had mysteriously appeared in a side pocket, another dark shadow glared at her from the trees. Sakura shivered a moment later when another shady figure joined the first and glanced at her malevolently. But she didn't look up. Why should she? No one could see her anyway…right?

A blonde haired creature sat at her desk and stared at her radio. The radio beeped. Slowly, but surely, with all the movements of a self-satisfied mogul, the woman reached for it. Her voice was low and dangerous when she answered, and there was no expression on her face.

"Yes." She paused for a few moments while she got her answer, and thought it over for a few moments more. "Yes, I think so. Tell me all about her." She was quiet for a few more moments. "No, I don't think you should do that." She toyed with a grain of sand on her desk, the only giveaway to her indecision. "Yes, that's true." She flicked the sand off of her desk, making a curiously loud sound against the metal floor, echoing menacingly off the walls. "No, that would be most unwise. We're _this_ close. We can't afford to lose it now. Yes, we've got to keep going." After listening for about two seconds, she clenched her fist angrily. "No! No, I won't!" Her fist tightened and tightened, her long nails digging into the fleshy part of her palm. "I can't do that, and you know it. I won't let you do it, either. It would be murder. I'm not interested in the girl, only in what she has." The tension in the room seemed to reverberate off the metal walls, making the air heavy and thick. A drop of crimson blood appeared in the crease of her pale skin by her pinky. "Yes. I'm perfectly aware of the circumstances. I want it too. But it would be just wrong…" She said tightly as she was interrupted, unclenching her fist and staring at the blood wonderingly. "Yes, you do that. But don't say I didn't warn you."

She pressed a button and the radio was silent. Reaching behind her, towards the small, hopeless window, she took another, chrome colored object and pressed the red button. A standard away message greeted her, and at the beep, she took a deep breath and started talking.

"Hello, Karumi. This is…this is Vixen." She paused for a moment, as if mad at herself for stumbling, but wanting the listener to digest what she had just said. "I'd like to request a favor. I want the death of Mitsubi Harashi. And tell him who wanted his death. I want you to photograph the horror on his face before he dies. And make it slow. I'll give you the usual amount. I'll be expecting the picture by tomorrow morning. Goodbye, Karumi. Make sure you don't fail."

She pressed the red button again. She swiveled towards the window, twisting her chair along with her. As she faced the window, the cold rays of the sun massaged her pale face, running along her smooth, fair eyebrows, and gazing into her sharp blue eyes. Her reflection caught in the glazed glass, and, for the first time since the operation started, her blood red lips parted in a lethal smile. Vixen was a beautiful girl.

** Hey all, sorry for updating so slowly—with school and all, it's been hard to write at all! Hope you enjoy this chapter!! ♥Cat **


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